The Cosmological Constant Problem, Dark Energy, and the Landscape of String Theory
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Planck Mass Rotons As Cold Dark Matter and Quintessence* F
Planck Mass Rotons as Cold Dark Matter and Quintessence* F. Winterberg Department of Physics, University of Nevada, Reno, USA Reprint requests to Prof. F. W.; Fax: (775) 784-1398 Z. Naturforsch. 57a, 202–204 (2002); received January 3, 2002 According to the Planck aether hypothesis, the vacuum of space is a superfluid made up of Planck mass particles, with the particles of the standard model explained as quasiparticle – excitations of this superfluid. Astrophysical data suggests that ≈70% of the vacuum energy, called quintessence, is a neg- ative pressure medium, with ≈26% cold dark matter and the remaining ≈4% baryonic matter and radi- ation. This division in parts is about the same as for rotons in superfluid helium, in terms of the Debye energy with a ≈70% energy gap and ≈25% kinetic energy. Having the structure of small vortices, the rotons act like a caviton fluid with a negative pressure. Replacing the Debye energy with the Planck en- ergy, it is conjectured that cold dark matter and quintessence are Planck mass rotons with an energy be- low the Planck energy. Key words: Analog Models of General Relativity. 1. Introduction The analogies between Yang Mills theories and vor- tex dynamics [3], and the analogies between general With greatly improved observational techniques a relativity and condensed matter physics [4 –10] sug- number of important facts about the physical content gest that string theory should perhaps be replaced by and large scale structure of our universe have emerged. some kind of vortex dynamics at the Planck scale. The They are: successful replacement of the bosonic string theory in 1. -
A String Landscape Perspective on Naturalness Outline • Preliminaries
A String Landscape Perspective on Naturalness A. Hebecker (Heidelberg) Outline • Preliminaries (I): The problem(s) and the multiverse `solution' • Preliminaries (II): From field theory to quantum gravity (String theory in 10 dimensions) • Compactifications to 4 dimensions • The (flux-) landscape • Eternal inflation, multiverse, measure problem The two hierarchy/naturalness problems • A much simplified basic lagrangian is 2 2 2 2 4 L ∼ MP R − Λ − jDHj + mhjHj − λjHj : • Assuming some simple theory with O(1) fundamental parameters at the scale E ∼ MP , we generically expectΛ and mH of that order. • For simplicity and because it is experimentally better established, I will focus in on theΛ-problem. (But almost all that follows applies to both problems!) The multiverse `solution' • It is quite possible that in the true quantum gravity theory, Λ comes out tiny as a result of an accidental cancellation. • But, we perceive that us unlikely. • By contrast, if we knew there were 10120 valid quantum gravity theories, we would be quite happy assuming that one of them has smallΛ. (As long as the calculations giving Λ are sufficiently involved to argue for Gaussian statisics of the results.) • Even better (since in principle testable): We could have one theory with 10120 solutions with differentΛ. Λ-values ! The multiverse `solution' (continued) • This `generic multiverse logic' has been advertised long before any supporting evidence from string theory existed. This goes back at least to the 80's and involves many famous names: Barrow/Tipler , Tegmark , Hawking , Hartle , Coleman , Weinberg .... • Envoking the `Anthropic Principle', [the selection of universes by demanding features which we think are necessary for intelligent life and hence for observers] it is then even possible to predict certain observables. -
A Quantum Focussing Conjecture Arxiv:1506.02669V1 [Hep-Th]
Prepared for submission to JHEP A Quantum Focussing Conjecture Raphael Bousso,a;b Zachary Fisher,a;b Stefan Leichenauer,a;b and Aron C. Wallc aCenter for Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A. bLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A. cInstitute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA Abstract: We propose a universal inequality that unifies the Bousso bound with the classical focussing theorem. Given a surface σ that need not lie on a horizon, we define a finite generalized entropy Sgen as the area of σ in Planck units, plus the von Neumann entropy of its exterior. Given a null congruence N orthogonal to σ, the rate of change of Sgen per unit area defines a quantum expansion. We conjecture that the quantum expansion cannot increase along N. This extends the notion of universal focussing to cases where quantum matter may violate the null energy condition. Integrating the conjecture yields a precise version of the Strominger-Thompson Quantum Bousso Bound. Applied to locally parallel light-rays, the conjecture implies a Quantum Null Energy Condition: a lower bound on the stress tensor in terms of the second derivative of the von Neumann entropy. We sketch a proof of this novel relation in quantum field theory. arXiv:1506.02669v1 [hep-th] 8 Jun 2015 Contents 1 Introduction2 2 Classical Focussing and Bousso Bound5 2.1 Classical Expansion5 2.2 Classical Focussing Theorem6 2.3 Bousso Bound7 3 Quantum Expansion and Focussing Conjecture8 3.1 Generalized Entropy -
The State of the Multiverse: the String Landscape, the Cosmological Constant, and the Arrow of Time
The State of the Multiverse: The String Landscape, the Cosmological Constant, and the Arrow of Time Raphael Bousso Center for Theoretical Physics University of California, Berkeley Stephen Hawking: 70th Birthday Conference Cambridge, 6 January 2011 RB & Polchinski, hep-th/0004134; RB, arXiv:1112.3341 The Cosmological Constant Problem The Landscape of String Theory Cosmology: Eternal inflation and the Multiverse The Observed Arrow of Time The Arrow of Time in Monovacuous Theories A Landscape with Two Vacua A Landscape with Four Vacua The String Landscape Magnitude of contributions to the vacuum energy graviton (a) (b) I Vacuum fluctuations: SUSY cutoff: ! 10−64; Planck scale cutoff: ! 1 I Effective potentials for scalars: Electroweak symmetry breaking lowers Λ by approximately (200 GeV)4 ≈ 10−67. The cosmological constant problem −121 I Each known contribution is much larger than 10 (the observational upper bound on jΛj known for decades) I Different contributions can cancel against each other or against ΛEinstein. I But why would they do so to a precision better than 10−121? Why is the vacuum energy so small? 6= 0 Why is the energy of the vacuum so small, and why is it comparable to the matter density in the present era? Recent observations Supernovae/CMB/ Large Scale Structure: Λ ≈ 0:4 × 10−121 Recent observations Supernovae/CMB/ Large Scale Structure: Λ ≈ 0:4 × 10−121 6= 0 Why is the energy of the vacuum so small, and why is it comparable to the matter density in the present era? The Cosmological Constant Problem The Landscape of String Theory Cosmology: Eternal inflation and the Multiverse The Observed Arrow of Time The Arrow of Time in Monovacuous Theories A Landscape with Two Vacua A Landscape with Four Vacua The String Landscape Many ways to make empty space Topology and combinatorics RB & Polchinski (2000) I A six-dimensional manifold contains hundreds of topological cycles. -
On Asymptotically De Sitter Space: Entropy & Moduli Dynamics
On Asymptotically de Sitter Space: Entropy & Moduli Dynamics To Appear... [1206.nnnn] Mahdi Torabian International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste String Phenomenology Workshop 2012 Isaac Newton Institute , CAMBRIDGE 1 Tuesday, June 26, 12 WMAP 7-year Cosmological Interpretation 3 TABLE 1 The state of Summarythe ofart the cosmological of Observational parameters of ΛCDM modela Cosmology b c Class Parameter WMAP 7-year ML WMAP+BAO+H0 ML WMAP 7-year Mean WMAP+BAO+H0 Mean 2 +0.056 Primary 100Ωbh 2.227 2.253 2.249−0.057 2.255 ± 0.054 2 Ωch 0.1116 0.1122 0.1120 ± 0.0056 0.1126 ± 0.0036 +0.030 ΩΛ 0.729 0.728 0.727−0.029 0.725 ± 0.016 ns 0.966 0.967 0.967 ± 0.014 0.968 ± 0.012 τ 0.085 0.085 0.088 ± 0.015 0.088 ± 0.014 2 d −9 −9 −9 −9 ∆R(k0) 2.42 × 10 2.42 × 10 (2.43 ± 0.11) × 10 (2.430 ± 0.091) × 10 +0.030 Derived σ8 0.809 0.810 0.811−0.031 0.816 ± 0.024 H0 70.3km/s/Mpc 70.4km/s/Mpc 70.4 ± 2.5km/s/Mpc 70.2 ± 1.4km/s/Mpc Ωb 0.0451 0.0455 0.0455 ± 0.0028 0.0458 ± 0.0016 Ωc 0.226 0.226 0.228 ± 0.027 0.229 ± 0.015 2 +0.0056 Ωmh 0.1338 0.1347 0.1345−0.0055 0.1352 ± 0.0036 e zreion 10.4 10.3 10.6 ± 1.210.6 ± 1.2 f t0 13.79 Gyr 13.76 Gyr 13.77 ± 0.13 Gyr 13.76 ± 0.11 Gyr a The parameters listed here are derived using the RECFAST 1.5 and version 4.1 of the WMAP[WMAP-7likelihood 1001.4538] code. -
Study of Anisotropic Compact Stars with Quintessence Field And
Eur. Phys. J. C (2019) 79:919 https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-019-7427-7 Regular Article - Theoretical Physics Study of anisotropic compact stars with quintessence field and modified chaplygin gas in f (T) gravity Pameli Sahaa, Ujjal Debnathb Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, Howrah 711 103, India Received: 18 May 2019 / Accepted: 25 October 2019 / Published online: 12 November 2019 © The Author(s) 2019 Abstract In this work, we get an idea of the existence of 1 Introduction compact stars in the background of f (T ) modified grav- ity where T is a scalar torsion. We acquire the equations Recently, compact stars, the most elemental objects of the of motion using anisotropic property within the spherically galaxies, acquire much attention to the researchers to study compact star with electromagnetic field, quintessence field their ages, structures and evolutions in cosmology as well as and modified Chaplygin gas in the framework of modi- astrophysics. After the stellar death, the residue portion is fied f (T ) gravity. Then by matching condition, we derive formed as compact stars which can be classified into white the unknown constants of our model to obtain many phys- dwarfs, neutron stars, strange stars and black holes. Com- ical quantities to give a sketch of its nature and also study pact star is very densed object i.e., posses massive mass and anisotropic behavior, energy conditions and stability. Finally, smaller radius as compared to the ordinary star. In astro- we estimate the numerical values of mass, surface redshift physics, the study of neutron star and the strange star moti- etc from our model to compare with the observational data vates the researchers to explore their features and structures for different types of compact stars. -
University of California Santa Cruz Quantum
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ QUANTUM GRAVITY AND COSMOLOGY A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in PHYSICS by Lorenzo Mannelli September 2005 The Dissertation of Lorenzo Mannelli is approved: Professor Tom Banks, Chair Professor Michael Dine Professor Anthony Aguirre Lisa C. Sloan Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies °c 2005 Lorenzo Mannelli Contents List of Figures vi Abstract vii Dedication viii Acknowledgments ix I The Holographic Principle 1 1 Introduction 2 2 Entropy Bounds for Black Holes 6 2.1 Black Holes Thermodynamics ........................ 6 2.1.1 Area Theorem ............................ 7 2.1.2 No-hair Theorem ........................... 7 2.2 Bekenstein Entropy and the Generalized Second Law ........... 8 2.2.1 Hawking Radiation .......................... 10 2.2.2 Bekenstein Bound: Geroch Process . 12 2.2.3 Spherical Entropy Bound: Susskind Process . 12 2.2.4 Relation to the Bekenstein Bound . 13 3 Degrees of Freedom and Entropy 15 3.1 Degrees of Freedom .............................. 15 3.1.1 Fundamental System ......................... 16 3.2 Complexity According to Local Field Theory . 16 3.3 Complexity According to the Spherical Entropy Bound . 18 3.4 Why Local Field Theory Gives the Wrong Answer . 19 4 The Covariant Entropy Bound 20 4.1 Light-Sheets .................................. 20 iii 4.1.1 The Raychaudhuri Equation .................... 20 4.1.2 Orthogonal Null Hypersurfaces ................... 24 4.1.3 Light-sheet Selection ......................... 26 4.1.4 Light-sheet Termination ....................... 28 4.2 Entropy on a Light-Sheet .......................... 29 4.3 Formulation of the Covariant Entropy Bound . 30 5 Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime 32 5.1 Scalar Field Quantization ......................... -
String Theory for Pedestrians
String Theory for Pedestrians – CERN, Jan 29-31, 2007 – B. Zwiebach, MIT This series of 3 lecture series will cover the following topics 1. Introduction. The classical theory of strings. Application: physics of cosmic strings. 2. Quantum string theory. Applications: i) Systematics of hadronic spectra ii) Quark-antiquark potential (lattice simulations) iii) AdS/CFT: the quark-gluon plasma. 3. String models of particle physics. The string theory landscape. Alternatives: Loop quantum gravity? Formulations of string theory. 1 Introduction For the last twenty years physicists have investigated String Theory rather vigorously. Despite much progress, the basic features of the theory remain a mystery. In the late 1960s, string theory attempted to describe strongly interacting particles. Along came Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD)– a theory of quarks and gluons – and despite their early promise, strings faded away. This time string theory is a credible candidate for a theory of all interactions – a unified theory of all forces and matter. Additionally, • Through the AdS/CFT correspondence, it is a valuable tool for the study of theories like QCD. • It has helped understand the origin of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of black holes. • Finally, it has inspired many of the scenarios for physics Beyond the Standard Model of Particle physics. 2 Greatest problem of twentieth century physics: the incompatibility of Einstein’s General Relativity and the principles of Quantum Mechanics. String theory appears to be the long-sought quantum mechanical theory of gravity and other interactions. It is almost certain that string theory is a consistent theory. It is less certain that it describes our real world. -
On the Limits of Effective Quantum Field Theory
RUNHETC-2019-15 On the Limits of Effective Quantum Field Theory: Eternal Inflation, Landscapes, and Other Mythical Beasts Tom Banks Department of Physics and NHETC Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854 E-mail: [email protected] Abstract We recapitulate multiple arguments that Eternal Inflation and the String Landscape are actually part of the Swampland: ideas in Effective Quantum Field Theory that do not have a counterpart in genuine models of Quantum Gravity. 1 Introduction Most of the arguments and results in this paper are old, dating back a decade, and very little of what is written here has not been published previously, or presented in talks. I was motivated to write this note after spending two weeks at the Vacuum Energy and Electroweak Scale workshop at KITP in Santa Barbara. There I found a whole new generation of effective field theorists recycling tired ideas from the 1980s about the use of effective field theory in gravitational contexts. These were ideas that I once believed in, but since the beginning of the 21st century my work in string theory and the dynamics of black holes, convinced me that they arXiv:1910.12817v2 [hep-th] 6 Nov 2019 were wrong. I wrote and lectured about this extensively in the first decade of the century, but apparently those arguments have not been accepted, and effective field theorists have concluded that the main lesson from string theory is that there is a vast landscape of meta-stable states in the theory of quantum gravity, connected by tunneling transitions in the manner envisioned by effective field theorists in the 1980s. -
Geometric Origin of Coincidences and Hierarchies in the Landscape
Geometric origin of coincidences and hierarchies in the landscape The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Citation Bousso, Raphael et al. “Geometric origin of coincidences and hierarchies in the landscape.” Physical Review D 84.8 (2011): n. pag. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. © 2011 American Physical Society As Published http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.84.083517 Publisher American Physical Society (APS) Version Final published version Citable link http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68666 Terms of Use Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. PHYSICAL REVIEW D 84, 083517 (2011) Geometric origin of coincidences and hierarchies in the landscape Raphael Bousso,1,2 Ben Freivogel,3 Stefan Leichenauer,1,2 and Vladimir Rosenhaus1,2 1Center for Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7300, USA 2Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720-8162, USA 3Center for Theoretical Physics and Laboratory for Nuclear Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA (Received 2 August 2011; published 14 October 2011) We show that the geometry of cutoffs on eternal inflation strongly constrains predictions for the time scales of vacuum domination, curvature domination, and observation. We consider three measure proposals: the causal patch, the fat geodesic, and the apparent horizon cutoff, which is introduced here for the first time. We impose neither anthropic requirements nor restrictions on landscape vacua. For vacua with positive cosmological constant, all three measures predict the double coincidence that most observers live at the onset of vacuum domination and just before the onset of curvature domination. -
The Multiverse: Conjecture, Proof, and Science
The multiverse: conjecture, proof, and science George Ellis Talk at Nicolai Fest Golm 2012 Does the Multiverse Really Exist ? Scientific American: July 2011 1 The idea The idea of a multiverse -- an ensemble of universes or of universe domains – has received increasing attention in cosmology - separate places [Vilenkin, Linde, Guth] - separate times [Smolin, cyclic universes] - the Everett quantum multi-universe: other branches of the wavefunction [Deutsch] - the cosmic landscape of string theory, imbedded in a chaotic cosmology [Susskind] - totally disjoint [Sciama, Tegmark] 2 Our Cosmic Habitat Martin Rees Rees explores the notion that our universe is just a part of a vast ''multiverse,'' or ensemble of universes, in which most of the other universes are lifeless. What we call the laws of nature would then be no more than local bylaws, imposed in the aftermath of our own Big Bang. In this scenario, our cosmic habitat would be a special, possibly unique universe where the prevailing laws of physics allowed life to emerge. 3 Scientific American May 2003 issue COSMOLOGY “Parallel Universes: Not just a staple of science fiction, other universes are a direct implication of cosmological observations” By Max Tegmark 4 Brian Greene: The Hidden Reality Parallel Universes and The Deep Laws of the Cosmos 5 Varieties of Multiverse Brian Greene (The Hidden Reality) advocates nine different types of multiverse: 1. Invisible parts of our universe 2. Chaotic inflation 3. Brane worlds 4. Cyclic universes 5. Landscape of string theory 6. Branches of the Quantum mechanics wave function 7. Holographic projections 8. Computer simulations 9. All that can exist must exist – “grandest of all multiverses” They can’t all be true! – they conflict with each other. -
Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement
University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research Communication Studies, Department of Spring 4-12-2011 Secular Salvation: Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement Brent Yergensen University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstuddiss Part of the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons Yergensen, Brent, "Secular Salvation: Sacred Rhetorical Invention in the String Theory Movement" (2011). Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research. 6. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/commstuddiss/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Communication Studies, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Studies Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. SECULAR SALVATION: SACRED RHETORICAL INVENTION IN THE STRING THEORY MOVEMENT by Brent Yergensen A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Communication Studies Under the Supervision of Dr. Ronald Lee Lincoln, Nebraska April, 2011 ii SECULAR SALVATION: SACRED RHETORICAL INVENTION IN THE STRING THEORY MOVEMENT Brent Yergensen, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2011 Advisor: Ronald Lee String theory is argued by its proponents to be the Theory of Everything. It achieves this status in physics because it provides unification for contradictory laws of physics, namely quantum mechanics and general relativity. While based on advanced theoretical mathematics, its public discourse is growing in prevalence and its rhetorical power is leading to a scientific revolution, even among the public.