Related papers: As time goes by
This report offers a modern perspective on the problem of negative energy, based on a re-examination of the concept of time direction as it arises in a classical and quantum-mechanical context. From this analysis emerges an improved…
Recent work has proposed the principle of `asymptotic past triviality' to characterize the initial state in the pre-big bang scenario of string cosmology, that it is a generic perturbative solution of the low-energy effective action. Among…
One of the major issues confronting theoretical physics is finding a quantum theory of gravity and a resolution to the cosmological constant problem. It is believed that a true quantum theory of gravity will lead to a solution to the this…
The search for a theory of quantum gravity faces two great challenges: the incredibly small scales of the Planck length and time, and the possibility that the observed constants of nature are in part the result of random processes. A…
The Quantum Cosmology can be understand as the theory of an one object that is the Universe described in terms of fundamental mass groundstate of the free boson string, that is a tachyon - a hypothetical particle with negative mass square,…
String cosmology aims at providing a reliable description of the very early Universe in the regime where standard-model physics is no longer appropriate, and where we can safely apply the basic ingredients of superstring models such as…
A set of diverse but mutually consistent results obtained in different settings has spawned a new view of loop quantum gravity and its physical implications, based on the interplay of operator calculations and effective theory: Quantum…
There are now evidences that the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ has a non-zero positive value. Alternative scenarios to a pure cosmological constant model are provided by quintessence, an effective negative pressure fluid permeating the…
We investigate the cosmological consequences of particle physics theories that admit stable loops of superconducting cosmic string - {\it vortons}. General symmetry breaking schemes are considered, in which strings are formed at one energy…
The idea that the cosmological term, Lambda, should be a time dependent quantity in cosmology is a most natural one. It is difficult to conceive an expanding universe with a strictly constant vacuum energy density, namely one that has…
Within some approaches to loop quantum cosmology, the existence of an Euclidean phase at high density has been suggested. In this article, we try to explain clearly what are the observable consequences of this possible disappearance of…
Changing the dimensionality of the space-time at the smallest and largest distances has manifold theoretical advantages. If the space is lower dimensional in the high energy regime, then there are no ultraviolet divergencies in field…
Observationally, the universe appears virtually critical. Yet, there is no simple explanation for this state. In this article we advance and explore the premise that the dynamics of the universe always seeks equilibrium conditions.…
We review various aspects of de Sitter spacetime in string theory: its status as an effective field theory spacetime solution, its relation to the vacuum energy problem in string theory, its (global) holographic definition in terms of two…
I review several different calculations, coming from string theory, nonperturbative quantum gravity and analyses of black holes that lead to predictions of phenomena that would uniquely be signatures of quantum gravitational effects. These…
We study a d-dimensional FRW universe, containing a perfect fluid with p = w \rho and \frac{1} {d - 1} \le w \le 1, and find a correspondence principle similar to that of Horowitz and Polchinski in the black hole case. This principle…
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.…
The Stringy Uncertainty relations, and corrections thereof, were explicitly derived recently from the New Relativity Principle that treats all dimensions and signatures on the same footing and which is based on the postulate that the Planck…
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,…
A model of a stationary universe is proposed. In this framework, time is defined as a local and quantum-mechanical notion in the sense that it is defined for each local and quantum-mechanical system consisting of finite number of particles.…