Related papers: Arrow of Time in String Theory

The question of the origin of time's arrow is a major outstanding problem in physics. Here we present a mechanism for the emergence of a cosmological arrow of time from a confinement--deconfinement transition in a $ Z_2 $ lattice gauge…

This is a short review on strings in curved spacetimes. We start by recalling the classical and quantum string behaviour in singular plane waves backgrounds. We then report on the string behaviour in cosmological spacetimes (FRW, de Sitter,…

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…

While the basic laws of physics seem time-reversal invariant, our understanding of the apparent irreversibility of the macroscopic world is well grounded in the notion of entropy. Because astrophysics deals with the largest structures in…

We give a brief overview of the nature of spacetime emerging from string theory. This is radically different from the familiar spacetime of Einstein's relativity. At a perturbative level, the spacetime metric appears as ``coupling…

In classical thermodynamics, heat cannot spontaneously pass from a colder system to a hotter system, which is called the thermodynamic arrow of time. However, if the initial states are entangled, the direction of the thermodynamic arrow of…

The puzzle of the thermodynamic arrow of time reduces to the question of how the universe could have had lower entropy in the past. I show that no special entropy lowering mechanism (or fluctuation) is necessary. As a consequence of…

This paper is a continuation of the papers [gr-qc/9409010, gr-qc/9505034, gr-qc/9603022, gr-qc/9609035] and is devoted to the riddle of the origin of the arrow of time. The problem of time orientation reduces to that of the difference…

This is a chapter of the planned monograph "Out of Nowhere: The Emergence of Spacetime in Quantum Theories of Gravity", co-authored by Nick Huggett and Christian W\"uthrich and under contract with Oxford University Press. (More information…

We show that the Wheeler-DeWitt equation with a consistent boundary condition is only compatible with an arrow of time that formally reverses in a recollapsing universe. Consistency of these opposite arrows is facilitated by quantum effects…

Concordance cosmology points to a Universe of zero mean curvature, due to the inflation mechanism which occurred soon after the Big Bang, while along a relatively small number of lower redshift light paths where lensing events are observed,…

The spread of the time arrows from the environment to an observed subsystem is followed within a harmonic model. A similarity is pointed out between irreversibility and a phase with spontaneously broken symmetry. The causal structure of…

This paper presents a unified formulation of the origin of the arrow of time in classical and quantum mechanics. We begin with a mechanical analysis of a one-dimensional three-particle system, which provides a concrete example in which…

The properties of a stationary massless string endowed with intrinsic spin are discussed. The spacetime is Minkowskian geometrically but the topology is nontrivial due to the horizon located on the surface $r=0$, similar with Rindler's…

We investigate the behavior of the entanglement entropy of space in the primordial phase of the universe before the beginning of cosmic inflation. We argue that in this phase the entanglement entropy of a region of space grows from a…

We use the phenomenological approach to study properties of space-time in the vicinity of the Schwarzschild black-hole singularity. Requiring finiteness of the Schwarzschild-like metrics we come to the notion of integrable singularity that…

There is something missing in our understanding of the origin of the seeds of Cosmic Structuture. The fact that the fluctuation spectrum can be extracted from the inflationary scenario through an analysis that involves quantum field theory…

Many solutions of General Relativity appear to allow the possibility of time travel. This was initially a fascinating discovery, but geometries of this type violate causality, a basic physical law which is believed to be fundamental.…

We show that the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity with torsion not only extends general relativity to account for the intrinsic spin of matter, but it may also eliminate major problems in gravitational physics and answer…

We consider a string inspired effective Lagrangian for the graviton and dilaton, containing Einstein gravity at the zero slope limit. The numerical solution of the problem shows asymptotically an inflationary universe. The time is measured…