Cosmological transitions with changes in the signature of the metric

Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984 · Sov. Phys. - JETP (Engl. Transl.); (United States)

OSTI ID:5851876

Sakharov, A D

It is conjectured that there exist states of the physical continuum which include regions with different signatures of the metric and that the observed Universe and an infinite number of other Universes arose as a result of quantum transitions with a change in the signature of the metric. The Lagrangian in such a theory must satisfy conditions of non-negativity in the regions with even signature. Signature here means the number of time coordinates. The induced gravitational Lagrangian in a conformally invariant theory of Kaluza-Klein type evidently satisfies this requirement and leads to effective equations of the gravitational theory of macroscopic space identical to the equations of the general theory of relativity. It is suggested that in our Universe there exist in addition to the observable (macroscopic) time dimension two or some other even number of compactified time dimensions. It is suggested that the formation of a Euclidean region in the center of a black hole or in the cosmological contraction of the Universe (if it is predetermined by the dynamics) is a possible outcome of gravitational collapse.

• Research Organization: P. N. Lebedev Physics Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences
• OSTI ID: 5851876
• Journal Information: Sov. Phys. - JETP (Engl. Transl.); (United States), Journal Name: Sov. Phys. - JETP (Engl. Transl.); (United States) Vol. 60:2; ISSN SPHJA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640106* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Cosmology
657003 -- Theoretical & Mathematical Physics-- Relativity & Gravitation
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
COSMOLOGY
FIELD THEORIES
FUNCTIONS
GENERAL RELATIVITY THEORY
GRAVITATIONAL COLLAPSE
KALUZA-KLEIN THEORY
LAGRANGIAN FUNCTION
METRICS
UNIFIED-FIELD THEORIES
UNIVERSE