Living on the edge: cosmology on the boundary of anti-de Sitter space

We sketch a particularly simple and compelling version of D-brane cosmology. Inspired by the semi-phenomenological Randall--Sundrum models, and their cosmological generalizations, we develop a variant that contains a single (3+1)-dimensional D-brane which is located on the boundary of a single bulk (4+1)-dimensional region. The D-brane boundary is itself to be interpreted as our visible universe, with ordinary matter (planets, stars, galaxies) being trapped on this D-brane by string theory effects. The (4+1)-dimensional bulk is, in its simplest implementation, adS_{4+1}, anti-de Sitter space. We demonstrate that a k=+1 closed FLRW universe is the most natural option, though the scale factor could quite easily be so large as to make it operationally indistinguishable from a k=0 spatially flat universe. (With minor loss of elegance, spatially flat and hyperbolic FLRW cosmologies can also be accommodated.) We demonstrate how this model can be made consistent with standard cosmology, and suggest some possible observational tests.Comment: LaTeX2e, 17 pages; Revised (references added, physics unchanged). To appear in Physics Letters

Quantum Interest in (3+1) dimensional Minkowski space

The so-called "Quantum Inequalities", and the "Quantum Interest Conjecture", use quantum field theory to impose significant restrictions on the temporal distribution of the energy density measured by a time-like observer, potentially preventing the existence of exotic phenomena such as "Alcubierre warp-drives" or "traversable wormholes". Both the quantum inequalities and the quantum interest conjecture can be reduced to statements concerning the existence or non-existence of bound states for a certain one-dimensional quantum mechanical pseudo-Hamiltonian. Using this approach, we shall provide a simple proof of one version of the Quantum Interest Conjecture in (3+1) dimensional Minkowski space.Comment: V1: 8 pages, revtex4; V2: 10 pages, some technical changes in details of the argument, no change in physics conclusions, this version essentially identical to published versio

The reliability horizon for semi-classical quantum gravity: Metric fluctuations are often more important than back-reaction

In this note I introduce the notion of the ``reliability horizon'' for semi-classical quantum gravity. This reliability horizon is an attempt to quantify the extent to which we should trust semi-classical quantum gravity, and to get a better handle on just where the Planck regime resides. I point out that the key obstruction to pushing semi-classical quantum gravity into the Planck regime is often the existence of large metric fluctuations, rather than a large back-reaction. There are many situations where the metric fluctuations become large long before the back-reaction is significant. Issues of this type are fundamental to any attempt at proving Hawking's chronology protection conjecture from first principles, since I shall prove that the onset of chronology violation is always hidden behind the reliability horizon.Comment: 6 pages; ReV_TeX 3.0; two-column format. Revisions: Central definitions and results essentially unchanged. Discussion of the relationship between this letter and the Kay-Radzikowski-Wald singularity theorems greatly extended and clarified. Discussion of reliability horizon near curvature singularities modified. Several references added. Minor typos fixed. Technical TeX modification

The Small-Is-Very-Small Principle

The central result of this paper is the small-is-very-small principle for restricted sequential theories. The principle says roughly that whenever the given theory shows that a property has a small witness, i.e. a witness in every definable cut, then it shows that the property has a very small witness: i.e. a witness below a given standard number. We draw various consequences from the central result. For example (in rough formulations): (i) Every restricted, recursively enumerable sequential theory has a finitely axiomatized extension that is conservative w.r.t. formulas of complexity $\leq n$. (ii) Every sequential model has, for any $n$, an extension that is elementary for formulas of complexity $\leq n$, in which the intersection of all definable cuts is the natural numbers. (iii) We have reflection for $\Sigma^0_2$-sentences with sufficiently small witness in any consistent restricted theory $U$. (iv) Suppose $U$ is recursively enumerable and sequential. Suppose further that every recursively enumerable and sequential $V$ that locally inteprets $U$, globally interprets $U$. Then, $U$ is mutually globally interpretable with a finitely axiomatized sequential theory. The paper contains some careful groundwork developing partial satisfaction predicates in sequential theories for the complexity measure depth of quantifier alternations

Tolman mass, generalized surface gravity, and entropy bounds

In any static spacetime the quasi-local Tolman mass contained within a volume can be reduced to a Gauss-like surface integral involving the flux of a suitably defined generalized surface gravity. By introducing some basic thermodynamics and invoking the Unruh effect one can then develop elementary bounds on the quasi-local entropy that are very similar in spirit to the holographic bound, and closely related to entanglement entropy.Comment: V1: 4 pages. Uses revtex4-1; V2: Three references added; V3: Some notational changes for clarity; introductory paragraph rewritten; no physics changes. This version accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

The Function of Gesture in an Architectural Design Meeting

This text presents a cognitive-psychology analysis of spontaneous, co-speech gestures in a face-to-face architectural design meeting (A1 in DTRS7). The long-term objective is to formulate specifications for remote collaborative-design systems, especially for supporting the use of different semiotic modalities (multi-modal interaction). According to their function for design, interaction, and collaboration, we distinguish different gesture families: representational (entity designating or specifying), organisational (management of discourse, interaction, or functional design actions), focalising, discourse and interaction modulating, and disambiguating gestures. Discussion and conclusion concern the following points. It is impossible to attribute fixed functions to particular gesture forms. "Designating" gestures may also have a design function. The gestures identified in A1 possess a certain generic character. The gestures identified are neither systematically irreplaceable, nor optional accessories to speech or drawing. We discuss the possibilities for gesture in computer-supported collaborative software systems. The paper closes on our contribution to gesture studies and cognitive design research

Explicit form of the Mann-Marolf surface term in (3+1) dimensions

The Mann-Marolf surface term is a specific candidate for the "reference background term" that is to be subtracted from the Gibbons-Hawking surface term in order make the total gravitational action of asymptotically flat spacetimes finite. That is, the total gravitational action is taken to be: (Einstein-Hilbert bulk term) + (Gibbons-Hawking surface term) - (Mann-Marolf surface term). As presented by Mann and Marolf, their surface term is specified implicitly in terms of the Ricci tensor of the boundary. Herein I demonstrate that for the physically interesting case of a (3+1) dimensional bulk spacetime, the Mann-Marolf surface term can be specified explicitly in terms of the Einstein tensor of the (2+1) dimensional boundary.Comment: 4 pages; revtex4; V2: Now 5 pages. Improved discussion of the degenerate case where some eigenvalues of the Einstein tensor are zero. No change in physics conclusions. This version accepted for publication in Physical Review

Policy voting, projection, and persuasion: an application of balance theory to electoral behavior

In this article differences between rational, policy-based, and rationalized voting are discussed, and it is argued that these forms of electoral decision making are not properly analyzed in existing electoral studies. Policy voting, persuasion, and projection are then redefined as three possible ways of restoring balance among imbalanced triads of political beliefs and attitudes. With the help of the Chernobyl nuclear plants issue it is shown that persuasion and projection are far more important ways of restoring balance than policy voting

Thermality of the Hawking flux

Is the Hawking flux "thermal"? Unfortunately, the answer to this seemingly innocent question depends on a number of often unstated, but quite crucial, technical assumptions built into modern (mis-)interpretations of the word "thermal". The original 1850's notions of thermality --- based on classical thermodynamic reasoning applied to idealized "black bodies" or "lamp black surfaces" --- when supplemented by specific basic quantum ideas from the early 1900's, immediately led to the notion of the black-body spectrum, (the Planck-shaped spectrum), but "without" any specific assumptions or conclusions regarding correlations between the quanta. Many (not all) modern authors (often implicitly and unintentionally) add an extra, and quite unnecessary, assumption that there are no correlations in the black-body radiation; but such usage is profoundly ahistorical and dangerously misleading. Specifically, the Hawking flux from an evaporating black hole, (just like the radiation flux from a leaky furnace or a burning lump of coal), is only "approximately" Planck-shaped over a bounded frequency range. Standard physics (phase space and adiabaticity effects) explicitly bound the frequency range over which the Hawking flux is "approximately" Planck-shaped from both above and below --- the Hawking flux is certainly not exactly Planckian, and there is no compelling physics reason to assume the Hawking photons are uncorrelated.Comment: V1: 13 pages. V2: Now 17 pages. 3 references added; other references updated; new section on the relationship between past and future null infinity; small edits throughout the text. V3: Now 19 pages. 4 more references added; extra discussion/small edits. No physics change