English

Anthropic Reasons for Non-Zero Flatness and Lambda

Astrophysics 2009-11-07 v2 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Theory Popular Physics

Abstract

In some cosmological theories with varying constants there are anthropic reasons why the expansion of the universe must not be too {\it close} to flatness or the cosmological constant too close to zero. Using exact theories which incorporate time-variations in α\alpha and in GG we show how the presence of negative spatial curvature and a positive cosmological constant play an essential role in bringing to an end variations in the scalar fields driving time change in these 'constants' during any dust-dominated era of a universe's expansion. In spatially flat universes with Λ=0\Lambda =0 the fine structure constant grows to a value which makes the existence of atoms impossible.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0110497,
  title  = {Anthropic Reasons for Non-Zero Flatness and Lambda},
  author = {J. D. Barrow and H. B. Sandvik and J. Magueijo},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0110497},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

7 pages, 5 figures, Corrected sign error and made necessary modifications. This version is accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.D