How to create universes with internal flux
How to create universes with internal flux
- Event time: 2:00pm until 3:00pm
- Event date: 26th April 2023
- Speaker: Professor Jean-Luc Lehners (Albert Einstein Institute (Potsdam))
- Location: Room 6206, James Clerk Maxwell Building (JCMB) James Clerk Maxwell Building Peter Guthrie Tait Road Edinburgh EH9 3FD GB
Event details
String compactifications typically require fluxes, for example in order to stabilise moduli. Such fluxes, when they thread internal dimensions, are topological in nature and take on quantised values. This poses the puzzle as to how they could arise in the early universe, as they cannot be turned on incrementally. Working with a string inspired model in 8 dimensions, we show that there exist no-boundary solutions in which internal fluxes are present from the creation of the universe onwards. The no-boundary proposal can thus explain the origin of fluxes in a Kaluza-Klein context. In fact, it acts as a selection principle since no-boundary solutions are only found to exist when the fluxes have the right magnitude to lead to an effective potential that is positive and flat enough for accelerated expansion. Within the range of selected fluxes, the no-boundary wave function assigns higher probability to smaller values of flux. Our models illustrate how cosmology can act as a filter on a landscape of possible higher-dimensional solutions. If time permits, I will include comments about an allowability criterion for complex metrics and how it might affect these probabilities.
About Particle Physics Theory seminars
The Particle Physics Theory seminar is a weekly series of talks reflecting the diverse interests of the group. Topics include analytic and numerical calculations based on the Standard Model of elementary particle physics, theories exploring new physics, as well as more formal developments in gauge theories and gravity..