English

Why the Universe Started from a Low Entropy State

High Energy Physics - Theory 2008-11-26 v3 Astrophysics General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Phenomenology

Abstract

We show that the inclusion of backreaction of massive long wavelengths imposes dynamical constraints on the allowed phase space of initial conditions for inflation, which results in a superselection rule for the initial conditions. Only high energy inflation is stable against collapse due to the gravitational instability of massive perturbations. We present arguments to the effect that the initial conditions problem {\it cannot} be meaningfully addressed by thermostatistics as far as the gravitational degrees of freedom are concerned. Rather, the choice of the initial conditions for the universe in the phase space and the emergence of an arrow of time have to be treated as a dynamic selection.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.hep-th/0511102,
  title  = {Why the Universe Started from a Low Entropy State},
  author = {R. Holman and L. Mersini-Houghton},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-th/0511102},
  year   = {2008}
}

Comments

12 pages, 2 figs. Final version; agrees with accepted version in Phys. Rev. D

R2 v1 2026-07-22T15:32:55.479Z