Related papers: Classical Propagation of Strings across a Big Crun…
We consider a picture in which the transition from a big crunch to a big bang corresponds to the collision of two empty orbifold planes approaching each other at a constant non-relativistic speed in a locally flat background space-time, a…
We consider the propagation of classical and quantum strings on cosmological space-times which interpolate from a collapsing phase to an expanding phase. We begin by considering the classical propagation of strings on space-times with…
Our results concern the transition of a quantum string through the singularity of the compactified Milne (CM) space. We restrict our analysis to the string winding around the compact dimension (CD) of spacetime. The CD undergoes contraction…
We consider string theory in a time dependent orbifold with a null singularity. The singularity separates a contracting universe from an expanding universe, thus constituting a big crunch followed by a big bang. We quantize the theory both…
A collision of orbifold planes in eleven dimensions has been proposed as an explanation of the hot big bang. When the two planes are close to each other, the winding membranes become the lightest modes of the theory, and can be effectively…
These proceedings are based on lectures delivered at the "RTN Winter School on Strings, Supergravity and Gauge Theories", CERN, January 16 - January 20, 2006. The school was mainly aimed at Ph.D. students and young postdocs. The lectures…
We present classical and quantum dynamics of a test particle in the compactified Milne space. Background spacetime includes one compact space dimension undergoing contraction to a point followed by expansion. Quantization consists in…
The complete set of solutions of two dimensional classical string theory are constructed for any curved spacetime. They describe folded strings moving in curved spacetime. Surprizing stringy behavior becomes evident at singularities such as…
The recent developments in string theory suggest that the space-time coordinates should be generalized to non-commuting matrices. Postulating this suggestion as the fundamental geometrical principle, we formulate a candidate for covariant…
We consider conditions under which a universe contracting towards a big crunch can make a transition to an expanding big bang universe. A promising example is 11-dimensional M-theory in which the eleventh dimension collapses, bounces, and…
We consider new cosmological solutions with a collapsing, an intermediate and an expanding phase. The boundary between the expanding (collapsing) phase and the intermediate phase is seen by comoving observers as a cosmological past (future)…
In string theory, the traditional picture of a Universe that emerges from the inflation of a very small and highly curved space-time patch is a possibility, not a necessity: quite different initial conditions are possible, and not…
The past year has seen enormous progress in string theory. It has become clear that all of the different string theories are different limits of a single theory. Moreover, in certain limits, one obtains a new, eleven-dimensional structure…
Arguably the simplest model of a cosmological singularity in string theory, the Lorentzian orbifold $\Real^{1,1}/boost$ is known to lead to severe divergences in scattering amplitudes of untwisted states, indicating a large backreaction…
A prescription is developed for matching general relativistic perturbations across singularities of the type encountered in the ekpyrotic and cyclic scenarios i.e. a collision between orbifold planes. We show that there exists a gauge in…
We study the time evolution of a $3+1$ dimensional spacetime, where space is a large three-sphere, due to small perturbations of the background fields. We focus on two classes of deformations. One corresponds on the worldsheet to…
We present a short introduction to a non-standard cosmological scenario motivated by the duality symmetries of string theory, in which the big bang singularity is replaced with a "big bounce" at high but finite curvature. The bouncing epoch…
Recently it was observed that the hyperbolic compactification of M/string theory related to S-branes may lead to a transient period of acceleration of the universe. We study time evolution of the corresponding effective 4d cosmological…
We present analytical results on the propagation of a classical string in non-zero modes through the singularity of the compactified Milne space. We restrict our analysis to a string winding around the compact dimension of spacetime. The…
The origin of Big Bang singularity in 3+1 dimensions can be understood in an exact string theory background obtained by an analytic continuation of a cigar like geometry with a nontrivial dilaton. In a T-dual conformal field theory picture…