Related papers: Entropy, String Theory, and our World
We argue that the entanglement entropy for a very small subsystem obeys a property which is analogous to the first law of thermodynamics when we excite the system. In relativistic setups, its effective temperature is proportional to the…
The two major goals in fundamental physics are: 1) Unification of all forces incorporating relativity and quantum theory, 2) Understanding the origin and evolution of the Universe as well as explaining the smallness of the cosmological…
This is the text of a talk given at the Inaugural Conference of the Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, Seoul, Korea, June 9, 1996. If nature is described by string theory, and if the compactification radius is large (as suggested…
In this thesis, we explore two approaches to string phenomenology. In the first half of the work, we investigate M-theory compactifications on spaces with co-dimension four, orbifold singularities. We construct M-theory on C^2/Z_N by…
We describe heterotic string and M-theory realizations of the Randall-Sundrum (RS) scenario with $\cx N=2$ and $\cx N=1$ supersymmetry in the bulk. Supersymmetry can be broken only on the world brane, a scenario that has been proposed to…
String theory is the leading contemporary framework to explore the synthesis of quantum mechanics with gravity. String phenomenology aims to study string theory while maintaining contact with observational data. The fermionic $Z_2\times…
Contraction theory is a mathematical framework for studying the convergence, robustness, and modularity properties of dynamical systems and algorithms. In this opinion paper, we provide five main opinions on the virtues of contraction…
I argue here that both the first and second laws of thermodynamics, generally understood to be quintessentially physical in nature, can be equally well described as being about certain types of information without the need to invoke…
The generalized second law is proven for semiclassical quantum fields falling across a causal horizon, minimally coupled to general relativity. The proof is much more general than previous proofs in that it permits the quantum fields to be…
I study the hypothetical thermodynamic system which saturates the so-called Hubble entropy bound and show that it is invariant under the S- and T-dualities of string theory as well as the interchanges of the eleventh dimension of M-theory.…
We first present open questions related to the foundations of thermodynamics and statistical physics. We then argue that in principle one can not have "closed systems", and that a universal background should exist. We propose that the…
We argue that traditional methods of compactification of string theory make it very difficult to understand how the cosmological constant becomes zero. String inspired models can give zero cosmological constant after fine tuning but since…
We revisit the conjecture of a generalized second law of thermodynamics which states that the combined entropy of matter and horizons must grow. In an expanding universe a generalized second law restricts the equation of state. In…
Brane inflation is a specific realization of the inflationary universe scenario in the early universe within the brane world framework in string theory. The naturalness and robustness of this realistic scenario is explained. Its predictions…
We analyse the laws of thermodynamics governing the behaviour of cosmological horizons in de Sitter space and their map to a holographic description at future infinity, $\mathcal{I}^+$. In this case, the boundary can receive signals from…
We note that the observable part of universe at a certain time t_P is necessarily limited, when there is a beginning of universe. We argue that an appropriate spacetime region associated with an observer from tI to t_P is the causal diamond…
String theory provides an example of the kind of apparent inconsistency that the {\it Principle of Black Hole Complementarity\/} deals with. To a freely infalling observer a string falling through a black hole horizon appears to be a Planck…
We use rigorous non-equilibrium thermodynamic arguments to prove (i) the residual entropy of any system is bounded below by the experimentally (calorimetrically) determined absolute temperature entropy, which itself is bounded below by the…
To the student of thermodynamics the most difficult subject is entropy. In this paper we examine the actual, practical application of entropy to two simple systems, the homogeneous slab with fixed boundary values of the temperature, and an…
We use string duality to describe instanton induced spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in string compactifications with additional background fields. Dynamical supersymmetry breaking by space-time instantons in the heterotic string theory…