Related papers: Noncommutative Spacetime, Stringy Spacetime Uncert…
There are good indications that fundamental physics gives rise to a modified space-momentum uncertainty relation that implies the existence of a minimum length scale. We implement this idea in the scalar field theory that describes density…
We study the effect of noncommutative spacetime geometry on one-loop corrections to the primordial curvature two-point function, arising from various forms of massless spectator matter fields interacting gravitationally with the inflaton.…
The standard formulation of the cosmological constant problem is based on one critical assumption---the spacetime is homogeneous and isotropic, which is true only on cosmological scales. However, this problem is caused by extremely small…
We review connections between the metric of spacetime and the quantum fluctuations of fields. In particular, we discuss the finding that the spacetime metric can be expressed entirely in terms of the 2-point correlators of the fluctuations…
Space-filling S-branes can mediate a transition between a contracting and an expanding universe in the Einstein frame. Following up on previous work that uncovered such bouncing solutions in the context of weakly coupled thermal…
We study the cosmology of a Lee-Wick type scalar field theory. First, we consider homogeneous and isotropic background solutions and find that they are nonsingular, leading to cosmological bounces. Next, we analyze the spectrum of…
In expanding FRW spacetimes, it is usually the case that homogeneous scalar fields redshift and their amplitudes approach limiting values: Hubble friction usually ensures that the field relaxes to its minimum energy configuration, which is…
Quantum vacuum fluctuations tend to be strongly anti-correlated, which reduces their observable effects. However, time dependence can upset the cancellation of these anti-correlated fluctuations and greatly enhance their effects. This form…
We present an extension of quantum field theory to the case when the spacetime topology fluctuates (spacetime foam). In this extension the number of bosonic fields becomes a variable and the ground state is characterized by a finite…
The notion of a space-time uncertainty principle in string theory is clarified and further developed. The motivation and the derivation of the principle are first reviewed in a reasonably self-contained way. It is then shown that the…
We consider a two-point spatial lattice approximation to an open string moving in a flat background with B field. It gives a constrained dipole system under the influence of a vector potential. Solving and quantizing this system recover all…
Any quantum system interacting with a complex environment undergoes decoherence. Empty space is filled with vacuum energy due to matter fields in their ground state and represents an underlying environment that any quantum particle has to…
The cosmological constant problem is turned around to argue for a new foundational physics postulate underlying a consistent quantum theory of gravity and matter, such as string theory. This postulate is a quantum equivalence principle…
Using a \emph{gedanken} experiment providing presumably a minimal inaccuracy the uncertainty contributions to the space-time measurement are precisely evaluated for clock and mirror respectively. The resulting expression of minimal…
Cosmological perturbations in an expanding universe back-react on the space-time in which they propagate. Calculations to lowest non-vanishing order in perturbation theory indicate that super-Hubble-scale fluctuations act as a negative and…
String theory is canonically accompanied with a space-time interpretation which determines S-matrix-like observables, and connects to the standard physics at low energies in the guise of local effective field theory. Recently, we have…
Starting from topological quantum field theory, we derive space-time uncertainty relation with respect to the time interval and the spatial length proposed by Yoneya through breakdown of topological symmetry in the large N matrix model.…
A natural consequence of string theory is a non-commutative structure of space-time on microscopic scales. The existence of a minimal length, and a modification of the effective field theory are two consequences of this space-time…
We investigate the problem of metric fluctuations in the presence of the vacuum fluctuations of matter fields and critically assess the usual assertion that vacuum energy implies a Planckian cosmological constant. A new stochastic classical…
We show that it is possible to combine an early phase of String Gas Cosmology which can explain the origin of the observed structures on cosmological scales with a short later period of power law inflation which creates spatial flatness.…