5 research outputs found
Multi-dimensional classical and quantum cosmology: Exact solutions, signature transition and stabilization
We study the classical and quantum cosmology of a -dimensional
spacetime minimally coupled to a scalar field and present exact solutions for
the resulting field equations for the case where the universe is spatially
flat. These solutions exhibit signature transition from a Euclidean to a
Lorentzian domain and lead to stabilization of the internal space, in contrast
to the solutions which do not undergo signature transition. The corresponding
quantum cosmology is described by the Wheeler-DeWitt equation which has exact
solutions in the mini-superspace, resulting in wavefunctions peaking around the
classical paths. Such solutions admit parametrizations corresponding to metric
solutions of the field equations that admit signature transition.Comment: 15 pages, two figures, to appear in JHE
Nonlinear electrodynamics and CMB polarization
Recently WMAP and BOOMERanG experiments have set stringent constraints on the
polarization angle of photons propagating in an expanding universe: . The polarization of the Cosmic Microwave
Background radiation (CMB) is reviewed in the context of nonlinear
electrodynamics (NLED). We compute the polarization angle of photons
propagating in a cosmological background with planar symmetry. For this
purpose, we use the Pagels-Tomboulis (PT) Lagrangian density describing NLED,
which has the form , where , and the parameter featuring the
non-Maxwellian character of the PT nonlinear description of the electromagnetic
interaction. After looking at the polarization components in the plane
orthogonal to the ()-direction of propagation of the CMB photons, the
polarization angle is defined in terms of the eccentricity of the universe, a
geometrical property whose evolution on cosmic time (from the last scattering
surface to the present) is constrained by the strength of magnetic fields over
extragalactic distances.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, minor changes, references adde