Related papers: Much Ado About Nothing
The catastrophic decay of a spacetime with compact dimensions, via bubbles of nothing (BoNs), is probably a generic phenomenon. BoNs admit a 4-dimensional description as singular Coleman-de Luccia bounces of the size modulus field,…
We study the possibility that the vacuum energy density of scalar and internal-space gauge fields arising from the process of dimensional reduction of higher dimensional gravity theories plays the role of quintessence. We show that, for the…
Conical defects of the form $(AdS_3\times S^3)/Z_k$ have an exact orbifold description in worldsheet string theory, which we derive from their known presentation as gauged Wess-Zumino-Witten models. The configuration of strings and…
We first review the interpretation of world-sheet defects as $D$ branes described by a critical theory in 11 dimensions, that we interpret as $M$ theory. We then show that $D$-brane recoil induces dynamically an anti-de-Sitter (AdS)…
Known solutions to three-dimensional gravity with negative cosmological constant so far consist of either AdS$_3$ or its orbifolds (or orientifolds). We geometrically derive a novel non-orientable AdS$_3$ spacetime that is an orientifold of…
We study the decay of the unstable D-particle in three-dimensional anti-de Sitter space-time using worldsheet boundary conformal field theory methods. We test the open string completeness conjecture in a background for which the phase space…
We define the Carrollian black holes corresponding to the limit of Schwarzschild-(A)dS spacetime and its higher-derivative counterpart known as Schwarzschild-Bach-(A)dS spacetime, which is also a static spherically symmetric vacuum solution…
The linear cosmological perturbation theory of an almost homogeneous and isotropic perfect fluid universe is reconsidered and formally simplified by introducing new covariant and gauge-invariant variables with physical interpretations on…
Coleman-de Luccia transitions are spontaneous processes of nucleation of bubbles within metastable gravitational vacua including in their interior a true stable vacuum. From the perspective of lower-dimensional gauged supergravities…
The embedding of a Taub-NUT space in the directions transverse to the world volume of branes describes branes at (spherical) orbifold singularities. Similarly, the embedding of a pp-wave in the brane world volume yields an AdS orbifold. In…
The existence of a thermodynamic description of horizons indicates that spacetime has a microstructure. While the "fundamental" degrees of freedom remain elusive, quantizing Einstein's gravity provides some clues about their properties. A…
One of the simplest time-dependent solutions of M theory consists of nine-dimensional Euclidean space times 1+1-dimensional compactified Milne space-time. With a further modding out by Z_2, the space-time represents two orbifold planes…
Cosmological models with a de Sitter 3-brane embedded in a five-dimensional de Sitter spacetime (dS5) give rise to a finite 4D Planck mass similar to that in Randall-Sundrum (RS) brane-world models in AdS5 spacetime. Yet there arise a few…
We conjecture that the end point of bulk closed string tachyon decay at any non-zero coupling, is the annihilation of space time by Witten's bubble of nothing, resulting in a topological phase of the theory. In support of this we present a…
We construct large families of supergravity solutions that are asymptotic to AdS$_2$ and terminate with a cap that is singular in two dimensions but smooth in higher dimensions. These solutions break supersymmetry and conformal invariance.…
We study the effective potentials for various probe branes surrounding AdS$_4$ black holes with massive halos in consistent truncations of M-theory on the Sasaki-Einstein$_7$ manifolds $Q^{111}$ and $M^{111}$. These probes are either M2…
We describe an effective theory of a scalar field, motivated by some features expected in the low energy theory of gluodynamics in 3+1 dimensions. The theory describes two propagating massless particles in a certain limit, which we identify…
We point out that the (pseudo-)conformal Universe scenario may be realized as decay of conformally invariant, metastable vacuum, which proceeds via spontaneous nucleation and subsequent growth of a bubble of a putative new phase. We study…
Non-aligning self-propelled particles with purely repulsive excluded volume interactions undergo athermal motility-induced phase separation into a dilute gas and a dense cluster phase. Here, we use enhanced sampling computational methods…
We study the supergravity dual of four-dimensional ${\mathcal{N}=1}$ superconformal field theories arising from wrapping M5-branes on a K\"ahler two-cycle inside a Calabi-Yau threefold. We derive an effective three-dimensional theory living…