English

On the phenomenon of emergent spacetimes: An instruction guide for experimental cosmology

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2009-04-14 v1

Abstract

We present a toy model where spacetime is emergent from a more fundamental microscopic system, and investigate the gray area interpolating between the collective and free-particle regimes. For a period of rapid exponential growth in the analogue universe, we argue that the intermediate regime is best described by a coloured potpourri of geometries -- a "rainbow geometry". This can be viewed as an alternative approach towards understanding quantum field theories in the presence of Lorentz-symmetry breaking at ultraviolet scales. Firstly, it is pointed out that cosmological particle production in our emergent FRW-type analogue universe, when compared to conventional semi-classical quantum gravity, is only temporarily robust against model-specific deviations from Lorentz invariance. Secondly, it is possible to carry out a straightforward quantitative analysis to estimate a suitable parameter regime for experimental (analogue) cosmology.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0804.1346,
  title  = {On the phenomenon of emergent spacetimes: An instruction guide for experimental cosmology},
  author = {Silke Weinfurtner and Matt Visser and Piyush Jain and C. W. Gardiner},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0804.1346},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

19 pages; Based on a talk at the conference: From Quantum to Emergent Gravity: Theory and Phenomenology, June 11-15 2007, Trieste, Italy