Related papers: Breaking symmetry, breaking ground
We discuss some aspects of string cosmology with an emphasis on the role played by the dilaton. A cosmological scenario based on the assumption that all spatial dimensions are periodic so that winding modes play an important role is…
The embedding of a given point set with non-crystallographic symmetry into higher-dimensional space is reviewed, with special emphasis on the Minkowski embedding known from number theory. This is a natural choice that does not require an a…
These lectures review certain topological defects and aspects of their cosmology. Unconventional material includes brief descriptions of electroweak defects, the structure of domain walls in non-Abelian theories, and the spectrum of…
If supersymmetry turns out to be a symmetry of nature at low energies, the first order of business to measure the soft breaking parameters. But one will also want to understand the symmetry, and its breaking, more microscopically. Two…
In this note we observe that Webb and co-workers' observation of an evolving fine structure constant has since been reconfirmed. We also confirm Kuhne's contention that this implies a cosmological constant and exhibit a cosmological…
Harmonic analysis is a tool to infer cosmic topology from the measured astrophysical cosmic microwave background CMB radiation. For overall positive curvature, Platonic spherical manifolds are candidates for this analysis. We combine the…
The scientific status of physical cosmology has been the subject of philosophical debate ever since detailed mathematical models of the Universe emerged from Einstein's general theory of relativity. Such debates have revolved around whether…
This is an article on the interaction between topology and physics which will appear in 1998 in a book called: A History of Topology, edited by Ioan James and published by Elsevier-North Holland.
The spin-statistics connection, quantum gravity and other physical considerations suggest that classical space-time topology is not an immutable attribute and can change in quantum physics. The implementation of topology change using…
First we discuss various topological objects (monopoles, ``minopoles'' and ``hybrids'') which may be important for the confinement mechanism in various abelian projections. The second topic is the string between quark and antiquark. The…
Recent progress in string theory has led to a reformulation of quantum-group polynomial invariants for knots and links into new polynomial invariants whose coefficients can be understood in topological terms. We describe in detail how to…
Any two infinite-dimensional (separable) Hilbert spaces are unitarily isomorphic. The sets of all their self-adjoint operators are also therefore unitarily equivalent. Thus if all self-adjoint operators can be observed, and if there is no…
The concept of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) generally lacks a simple and intuitive introduction in the literature. This gap is filled by defining SSB in a universal context beyond its usual applications in physics and by discussing…
A polemical article evaluating string theory from the point of view of a quantum field theorist working in a mathematics department. Comments to the author are encouraged.
It is shown that the minimal left-right symmetric model admits cosmic string and domain wall solutions. The cosmic strings arise when the SU(2)_R is broken and can either be destabilized at the electroweak scale or remain stable through the…
This thesis presents several new insights on the interface between mathematics and theoretical physics, with a central role for fermions on Riemann surfaces. First of all, the duality between Vafa-Witten theory and WZW models is embedded…
We show that cosmological observables can constrain the topology of the compact additional dimensions predicted by string theory. To do this, we develop a general strategy for relating cosmological observables to the microscopic parameters…
We describe the formalism of a quantitative analytic model for the evolution of realistic wiggly (as opposed to Goto-Nambu) cosmic strings. The model is particularly suited for describing the evolution of small-scale structure on string…
Comment on K.J Thomas et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 135-138 (1996).
This paper has been withdrawn by the author