Related papers: Lee Smolin Five Great Problems and Their Solution …
Statistics is a uniquely difficult field to convey to the uninitiated. It sits astride the abstract and the concrete, the theoretical and the applied. It has a mathematical flavor and yet it is not simply a branch of mathematics. Its core…
What do we do when cosmology raises questions it cannot answer? These include the existence of a multiverse and the universality of the laws of physics. We cannot settle any of these issues by experiment, and this is where philosophers…
New inflationary solutions to the Einstein equation are explicitly constructed in a simple five-dimensional model with an orbifold extra dimension $S^1/Z_2$. We consider inflation caused by cosmological constants for the five-dimensional…
We apply the variable speed of light into general relativity in order to solve the problems we met in the standard cosmology. We're surprised to find that, the results from the general relativity in cosmology are exactly the same as those…
We derive the matching conditions for cosmological perturbations in a Friedmann Universe where the equation of state undergoes a sharp jump, for instance as a result of a phase transition. The physics of the transition which is needed to…
The cosmological constant problem is one of the greatest challenges in contemporary physics, since it is deeply rooted in the problematic interplay between quantum fields and gravity. The aim of this work is to review the key conceptual…
Two fundamental laws are needed for prediction in the universe: (1) a basic dynamical law and (2) a law for the cosmological initial condition. Quantum cosmology is the area of basic research concerned with the search for a theory of the…
The paper contains a discussion on a number of open problems in queueing theory. Some of them are known for decades, some are more recent. They relate to stability and to rare events. There is an idea to prepare a special issue of QUESTA on…
The reader surely knows what particles physics is about: finding building blocks of nature that appear elementary at a given time and study their interactions - so why in the world this essay? The problem is how to arrive at a fundamental…
We argue using simple models that all successful practical uses of probabilities originate in quantum fluctuations in the microscopic physical world around us, often propagated to macroscopic scales. Thus we claim there is no physically…
Quantum theory, general relativity, the standard model of particle physics, and the $\Lambda$CDM model of cosmology have all been spectacularly successful within their respective regimes of applicability, but many central problems remain…
In spite of the phenomenological successes of the inflationary universe scenario, the current realizations of inflation making use of scalar fields lead to serious conceptual problems which are reviewed in this lecture. String theory may…
Clifton, Bub, and Halvorson (CBH) have argued that quantum mechanics can be derived from three cryptographic, or broadly information-theoretic, axioms. But Smolin disagrees, and he has given a toy theory that he claims is a counterexample.…
Based on the conjecture that rather than the second law of thermodynamics inevitably be breached as matter approaches a big crunch or a black hole singularity, the order of events should reverse, a model of the universe that resolves a…
Following a suggestion by Gasperini and Veneziano, that String Cosmology can be reconciled with Inflation and, hence, with the Standard Big Bang, we display an analytical solution which possesses four interesting properties: (1) it is…
I present a discussion of some open issues in the philosophy of space-time theories. Emphasis is put on the ontological nature of space and time, the relation between determinism and predictability, the origin of irreversible processes in…
A review is attempted of physical motivations, theoretical and phenomenological aspects, as well as outstanding problems, of the pre-big bang scenario in string cosmology.
The holomorphy of the superpotential along with symmetries gives very strong constraints on any stringy non-perturbative effects. This observation suggests an approach to string phenomenology. (Presented at ``Strings 95'', March 1995.
We give an infinite number of exact solutions to the 5-dimensional static Einstein equation with axial symmetry by using the inverse scattering method. The solutions are characterized by two integers representing the soliton numbers. The…
Making use of the wealth of new observational data coming from the sky it is possible to constrain particle physics theories beyond the Standard Model. One way to do this is illustrated in this article: a subset of theories admits cosmic…