Related papers: Milne and Torus Universes Meet
We investigate the geometry of a quantum universe with the topology of the four-torus. The study of non-contractible geodesic loops reveals that a typical quantum geometry consists of a small semi-classical toroidal bulk part, dressed with…
Is the universe finite or infinite, and what shape does it have? These fundamental questions, of which relatively little is known, are typically studied within the context of the standard model of cosmology where the universe is assumed to…
Six-dimensional Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity (with a linear Gauss-Bonnet term) is investigated. This theory is inspired by basic features of results coming from string and M-theory. Dynamical compactification is carried out and it is seen…
A bouncing scenario of a flat homogeneous and isotropic universe is explored by using the reconstruction technique for the power-law parametrization of the Hubble parameter in a modified gravity theory with higher-order curvature and trace…
In the quest of a physical theory of quantum gravity, spin foam models, or in short spinfoams, propose a well-defined path integral summing over quantized discrete space-time geometries. At the crossroad of topological quantum field theory,…
Three-dimensional gravity is a topological field theory, which can be quantized as the Ponzano-Regge state-sum model built from the $\{3nj\}$-symbols of the recoupling of the $\SU(2)$ representations, in which spins are interpreted as…
We consider a multidimensional universe with the topology $M= \R\times M_1\times \cdots \times M_n$, where the $M_i$ ($i>1$) are $d_i$-dimensional Ricci flat spaces. Exploiting a conformal equivalence between minimal coupling models and…
The dilaton-gravity sector of a linear in the scalar curvature, scale invariant Two Measures Field Theory (TMT), is explored in detail in the context of closed FRW cosmology and shown to allow stable emerging universe solutions. The model…
We consider the cosmological role of the scalar fields generated by the compactification of 11-dimensional Einstein gravity on a 7D elliptic twisted torus, which has the attractive features of giving rise to a positive semi-definite…
We consider renormalizability of topologically massive gravity in three space-time dimensions. With a usual parametrization of the metric tensor, we establish the statement that topologically massive gravity is in fact renormalizable. In…
We show that General Relativity can be formulated as a constrained topological theory for flat 2-connections associated to the Poincar\'e 2-group. Matter can be consistently coupled to gravity in this formulation. We also show that the edge…
A classical dynamical system in a four-dimensional Euclidean space with universal time is considered. The space is hypothesized to be originally occupied by a uniform substance, pictured as a liquid, which at some time became supercooled.…
In this paper using the Clifford bundle formalism a Lagrangian theory of the Yang-Mills type (with a gauge fixing term and an auto interacting term) for the gravitational field in Minkowski spacetime is presented. It is shown how two simple…
We propose that at the beginning of the universe gravity existed in a limbo either because it was switched off or because it was only conformally coupled to all particles. This picture can be reverse-engineered from the requirement that the…
We analyse MINBU distribution of 2 dimensional quantum gravity. New data of R$^2$-gravity by the Monte Carlo simulation and its theoretical analysis by the semiclassical approach are presented. The cross-over phenomenon takes place at some…
We construct a topological theory for euclidean gravity in four dimensions, by enforcing self-duality conditions on the spin connection. The corresponding topological symmetry is associated to the SU(2) X diffeomorphism X U(1) invariance.…
Minisuperpace Quantum Cosmology is an approach by which it is possible to infer initial conditions for dynamical systems which can suitably represent observable and non-observable universes. Here we discuss theories of gravity which, from…
We formulate noncommutative three-dimensional (3d) gravity by making use of its connection with 3d Chern-Simons theory. In the Euclidean sector, we consider the particular example of topology $T^2 \times R$ and show that the 3d black hole…
Motivated by the similarity between CSW theory and the Chern Simons state for General Relativity in the Ashtekar variables, we explore what the universe would look like if it were in a state corresponding to a 3D TQFT. We end up with a…
It has previously been shown heuristically that the topology of the Universe affects gravity, in the sense that a test particle near a massive object in a multiply connected universe is subject to a topologically induced acceleration that…