Universe Decay, Inflation and the Large Eigenvalue of the Cosmological Constant Seesaw

We discuss implications of the large eigenvalue of the cosmological constant seesaw mechanism extending hep-th/0602112 and hep-th/0604108. While the previous papers focused on the small eigenvalue as a cosmological constant associated with the accelerating Universe, here we draw attention to the physical implications of the large eigenvalue. In particular we find that the large eigenvalue can give rise to a period of inflation terminated by Universe decay. The mechanism involves quantum tunneling and mixing and introduces parameters $\Gamma$, the decay constant, and $\theta$, the mixing angle. We discuss the cosmological constant seesaw mechanism in the context of various models of current interest including chain inflation, inflatonless inflation, string theory, Universe entanglement and different approaches to the hierarchy problem.Comment: 27 page

Three Dimensional Gravity and M-Theory

It is well known that string theory can be formulated as two dimensional gravity coupled to matter. In the 2d gravity formulation the central charge of the matter together with a hidden dimension from the conformal factor or Liouville mode determines the Target space dimension. Also the vacuum amplitude of the 2d gravity formulation implies important constraints on the Target space theory associated with modular invariance. In this paper we study a three dimensional gravity approach to M-theory. We find that there are three hidden Liouville type fields coming from the 3d gravity sector and that these together with the number of zero modes of the matter fields determine an eleven dimensional Target space of M theory. We investigate the perturbative vacuum amplitude for the 3d gravity approach to M theory and constraints imposed from SL(3,Z) modular invariance using a method of Dolan and Nappi together with a sum over spin structures which generalizes the SL(2,Z) invariance found in string theory. To introduce gauge fields in M-theory we study the vacuum amplitude on a three annulus and introduce interactions with two dimensional matter on a boundary in analogy with the introduction of gauge fields for open string theory. We study a three dimensional version of M-theory from the 3d gravity perspective and show how it relates to two dimensional type 0A string theory described by a 2d superLiouville theory with c=1 matter and, on manifolds with boundary, to a E8xSO(8) 2d heterotic string. We discuss a nonperturbative 3d gravity approach to M-theory and the expansion about e=0 in the Chern-Simons gauge formulation of the theory. Finally we study the interaction of fermionic matter with 3d gravity to investigate the origins of conformal dimension and Liouville effective action from a 3d gravity approach.Comment: 36 pages, 1 figur

Cosmological Constant Seesaw in Quantum Cosmology

Recently a phenomenological relationship for the observed cosmological constant has been discussed by Motl and Carroll in the context of treating the cosmological constant as a $2\times 2$ matrix but no specific realization of the idea was provided. We realize a cosmological constant seesaw mechanism in the context of quantum cosmology. The main observation used is that a positive cosmological constant plays the role of a $Mass^2$ term in the Wheeler DeWitt (WDW) equation. Modifying the WDW equation to include a coupling between two universes, one of which has planck scale vacuum energy and another which has vacuum energy at the supersymmetry breaking scale before mixing, we obtain the relation $\lambda = (10TeV)^8/M_{Pl}^4$ in a similar manner to the usual seesaw mechanism. We discuss how the picture fits in with our current understanding of string/M-theory cosmologies. In particular we discuss how these results might be extended in the context of exact wave functions of the universe derived from certain string models.Comment: 24 page

Riemann Hypothesis, Matrix/Gravity Correspondence and FZZT Brane Partition Functions

We investigate the physical interpretation of the Riemann zeta function as a FZZT brane partition function associated with a matrix/gravity correspondence. The Hilbert-Polya operator in this interpretation is the master matrix of the large N matrix model. Using a related function $\Xi(z)$ we develop an analogy between this function and the Airy function Ai(z) of the Gaussian matrix model. The analogy gives an intuitive physical reason why the zeros lie on a critical line. Using a Fourier transform of the $\Xi(z)$ function we identify a Kontsevich integrand. Generalizing this integrand to $n \times n$ matrices we develop a Kontsevich matrix model which describes n FZZT branes. The Kontsevich model associated with the $\Xi(z)$ function is given by a superposition of Liouville type matrix models that have been used to describe matrix model instantons.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Cosmological Constant Seesaw in String/M-Theory

In this paper we extend the Cosmological Constant Seesaw treatment of hep-th/0602112 to String/M-Theory where the cosmological constant is finite. We discuss how transitions between different $\lambda$, one of Planckian vacuum energy, can give rise to a large $M_{Pl}^4$ denominator in the Cosmological Constant Seesaw relation discussed by Banks, Motl and Carroll. We apply these ideas to 2d/3d String/M-Theory and show how the existence of a large N dual fermionic theory makes the demonstration of a transition between different $\lambda$ relatively straight forward. We also consider 2d/3d Heterotic String/M-Theory cosmology, a theory for which the large N dual is unknown. The minisuperspace associated to these models is 26/27 dimensional for the SO(24) theory and 10/11 dimensional for the $SO(8) \times E_8$ theory and consists of the $T$ fields as well as the dilaton and metric. 2d Heterotic String Quantum Cosmology is similar to critical string dynamics except for the inclusion of the 2d gauge fields. These 2d gauge fields have an important effect on the vacuum energy and on transitions between different $\lambda$ through the effects of Wilson lines. Finally we discuss the extension to existing higher dimensional string cosmologies possessing large N duals.Comment: 25 pages, 0 figure

Graphics Turing Test

We define a Graphics Turing Test to measure graphics performance in a similar manner to the definition of the traditional Turing Test. To pass the test one needs to reach a computational scale, the Graphics Turing Scale, for which Computer Generated Imagery becomes comparatively indistinguishable from real images while also being interactive. We derive an estimate for this computational scale which, although large, is within reach of todays supercomputers. We consider advantages and disadvantages of various computer systems designed to pass the Graphics Turing Test. Finally we discuss commercial applications from the creation of such a system, in particular Interactive Cinema.Comment: 6 page

QCD Cosmology from the Lattice Equation of State

We numerically determine the time dependence of the scale factor from the lattice QCD equation of state, which can be used to define a QCD driven cosmology. We compare a lattice approach to QCD cosmology at late times with other models of the low temperature equation of state including the hadronic resonance gas model, Hagedorn model and AdS/CFT.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, added reference

Interactive visualization of higher dimensional data in a multiview environment

We develop multiple view visualization of higher dimensional data. Our work was chiefly motivated by the need to extract insight from four dimensional Quantum Chromodynamic (QCD) data. We develop visualization where multiple views, generally views of 3D projections or slices of a higher dimensional data, are tightly coupled not only by their specific order but also by a view synchronizing interaction style, and an internally defined interaction language. The tight coupling of the different views allows a fast and well-coordinated exploration of the data. In particular, the visualization allowed us to easily make consistency checks of the 4D QCD data and to infer the correctness of particle properties calculations. The software developed was also successfully applied in material studies, in particular studies of meteorite properties. Our implementation uses the VTK API. To handle a large number of views (slices/projections) and to still maintain good resolution, we use IBM T221 display (3840 X 2400 pixels).Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Quark-Antiquark Regge Trajectories in Large N_c QCD

We apply methods developed by Lovelace, Lipatov and Kirschner to evaluate the leading Regge trajectories \alpha(t) with the quantum numbers of nonexotic quark-antiquark mesons at N_c = infinity and in the limit of t going to minus infinity. In this region renormalization group improved perturbation theory should be valid. We discuss the compatibility of nonlinear trajectories with narrow resonance approximations.Comment: 12 pages 1 figure not include

Computational Exploration of the Nanogold Energy Landscape

We use density functional theory to quantify finite size and shape effects for gold nanoclusters. We concentrate on the computation of binding energy as a function of bond length for icosahedral and cuboctohedral clusters. We find that the cuboctoheral gold clusters have lower energy for 13 atoms. For 55 atoms we find that the icosahedral gold clusters have lower binding energy. We also introduce a one parameter family of geometries that interpolate between the icosahedral and cuboctohedral clusters that is parametrized by an angle variable. We determine the binding energy dependence on shape as a function of the angle variable for 13 and 55 atom clusters with a minimum at the cuboctohedral point and icosahedral point respectively. We also compute the binding energy for the 147 atom gold nanocluster and show that the binding energy of the icosahedral cluster is lower than the 147 atom cuboctohedral gold cluster. We also compute the binding energy of the $Au_{55}O_2$ molecule with possible applications to catalysis.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figure