Related papers: How does the Universe expand?
The interpretation of the expanding universe as an expansion of space has recently been challenged. From the geodesic equation in Friedmann universe models and the empty Milne model, we argue that a Newtonian or special relativistic…
We consider fuzzy spacetime, quanta of area and related concepts in the context of latest approaches to Quantum Gravity and show its interface with usual non-Abelian gauge theory. We also discuss in this context a cosmology which correctly…
The purpose of the paper is five-fold: (a) Argue that the question in the title can be presented in a meaningful manner and that it requires an answer. (b) Discuss the conventional answers and explain why they are unsatisfactory. (c)…
Quantum mechanical unitarity in our universe is challenged both by the notion of the big bang, in which nothing transforms into something, and the expansion of space, in which something transforms into more something. This motivates the…
Current evidence suggests that the cosmological constant is not zero, or that we live in an open universe. We examine the implications for the future under these assumptions, and find that they are striking. If the Universe is cosmological…
It is proposed that spacetime should be regarded as an evolving block universe, bounded to the future by the present time, which continually extends to the future. This future boundary is defined at each time by measuring proper time along…
In Loop Quantum Gravity mathematically rigorous models of full quantum gravity were proposed. In this paper we study a cosmological sector of one of the models describing quantum gravity with positive cosmological constant coupled to…
Recently, a novel idea about our expanding Universe was proposed by T. Padmanabhan [arXiv:1206.4916]. He suggested that the expansion of our Universe can be thought of as the emergence of space as cosmic time progresses. The emergence is…
Recent observations of distant supernovae imply, in defiance of expectations, that the universe growth is accelerating, contrary to what has always been assumed that the expansion is slowing down due to gravity. In this paper a…
In gravitational theories with extra dimensions, it is argued that the existence of a positive vacuum energy generically implies catastrophic instability of our four-dimensional world. The most generic instability is a decompactification…
Is there a number for every bit of spacetime, or is spacetime smooth like the real line? The ultimate fate of a quantum theory of gravity might depend on it. The troublesome infinities of quantum gravity can be cured by assuming that…
The spacetime structure of the spatially uniformly expanding universe is described in terms of a kind of global space and global time instead of the space and time we usually recognize. The global space at some instant is a space in which…
We investigate the connection between the entanglement generated by expanding universe and the cosmological parameters. We show that the faster the universe expands and the larger the total volume results the higher degree of entanglement.
In this essay based on 0907.2939, we argue that the emergence of classically connected spacetimes is intimately related to the quantum entanglement of degrees of freedom in a non-perturbative description of quantum gravity. Disentangling…
There is sufficient amount of internal evidence in the nature of gravitational theories to indicate that gravity is an emergent phenomenon like, e.g, elasticity. Such an emergent nature is most apparent in the structure of gravitational…
A brane universe moving in a curved higher dimensional bulk space is considered. The motion induces a cosmological evolution on the universe brane that is indistiguishable from a similar one induced by matter density on the brane. The…
The universe is viewed as a dust gas filling a sphere and floating in infinite empty space. Einstein's gravitational equations are applied to this case together with appropriate boundary values. The equations are solved for initial…
Matter interacting classically with gravity in 3+1 dimensions usually gives rise to a continuum of degrees of freedom, so that, in any attempt to quantize the theory, ultraviolet divergences are nearly inevitable. Here, we investigate…
We consider a single field governed expansion of the universe from a five dimensional (5D) vacuum state. Under an appropiate change of variables the universe can be viewed in a effective manner as expanding in 4D with an effective equation…
Flat space cosmology spacetimes are exact time-dependent solutions of 3-dimensional gravity theories, such as Einstein gravity or topologically massive gravity. We exhibit a novel kind of phase transition between these cosmological…