Classical propagation of strings across a big crunch/big bang singularity

Journal Article · Mon Jan 15 04:00:00 EST 2007 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.75.026001· OSTI ID:21010943

Niz, Gustavo; Turok, Neil ^[1]

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1. DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 0WA (United Kingdom)

One of the simplest time-dependent solutions of M theory consists of nine-dimensional Euclidean space times 1+1-dimensional compactified Milne space-time. With a further modding out by Z{sub 2}, the space-time represents two orbifold planes which collide and re-emerge, a process proposed as an explanation of the hot big bang [J. Khoury, B. A. Ovrut, P. J. Steinhardt, and N. Turok, Phys. Rev. D 64, 123522 (2001).][P. J. Steinhardt and N. Turok, Science 296, 1436 (2002).][N. Turok, M. Perry, and P. J. Steinhardt, Phys. Rev. D 70, 106004 (2004).]. When the two planes are near, the light states of the theory consist of winding M2-branes, describing fundamental strings in a particular ten-dimensional background. They suffer no blue-shift as the M theory dimension collapses, and their equations of motion are regular across the transition from big crunch to big bang. In this paper, we study the classical evolution of fundamental strings across the singularity in some detail. We also develop a simple semiclassical approximation to the quantum evolution which allows one to compute the quantum production of excitations on the string and implement it in a simplified example.

• OSTI ID: 21010943
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Journal Name: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 75; ISSN PRVDAQ; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
BRANES
COMPACTIFICATION
COSMOLOGY
EQUATIONS OF MOTION
EUCLIDEAN SPACE
EXCITATION
M-THEORY
MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS
ONE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
SEMICLASSICAL APPROXIMATION
SINGULARITY
SPACE-TIME
TIME DEPENDENCE