Publications (37)5.83 Total impact
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Article: No Firewalls in Holographic Space-Time or Matrix Theory
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ABSTRACT: We use the formalisms of Holographic Space-time (HST) and Matrix Theory[11] to investigate the claim of [1] that old black holes contain a firewall, i.e. an in-falling detector encounters highly excited states at a time much shorter than the light crossing time of the Schwarzschild radius. In both formalisms there is no dramatic change in particle physics inside the horizon until a time of order the Schwarzschild radius. The Matrix Theory formalism has been shown to give rise to an S-matrix, which coincides with effective supergravity for an infinite number of low energy amplitudes. We conclude that the firewall results from an inappropriate use of quantum effective field theory to describe fine details of localized events near a black hole horizon. In both HST and Matrix Theory, the real quantum gravity Hilbert space in a localized region contains many low energy degrees of freedom that are not captured in QU(antum) E(ffective) F(ield) T(heory) and omits many of the high energy DOF in QUEFT.05/2013; -
Article: Holographic Space-Time Does Not Predict Firewalls
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ABSTRACT: We use the formalism of Holographic Space-time (HST) to investigate the claim of [1] that old black holes contain a firewall, i.e. an in-falling observer encounters highly excited states at a time much shorter than the light crossing time of the Schwarzschild radius. This conclusion is much less dramatic in HST than in the hypothetical models of quantum gravity used in [1]. In HST there is no dramatic change in particle physics inside the horizon until a time of order the Schwarzschild radius.08/2012; -
Article: Vacuum bubble in an inhomogeneous cosmology
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ABSTRACT: We study the propagation of bubbles of new vacuum in a radially inhomogeneous Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi background that includes a cosmological constant. This exemplifies the classical evolution of a tunneling bubble through a metastable state with curvature inhomogeneities, and will be relevant in the context of the Landscape. We demand that the matter profile in the LTB background satisfy the weak energy condition. For sample profiles that satisfy this restriction, we find that the evolution of the bubble (in terms of the physically relevant coordinates intrinsic to the shell) is largely unaffected by the presence of local inhomogeneities. Our setup should also be a useful toy model for capturing the effects of ambient inhomogeneities on an inflating region.Journal of High Energy Physics 05/2008; 2008(05):041. · 5.83 Impact Factor -
Article: Perturbation Growth in Anisotropic Cosmologies
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ABSTRACT: We study the growth of perturbations in an expanding Bianchi type-I metric that evolves according to an energy density that includes dust and a cosmological constant. Assuming an epoch where the cosmological constant is subdominant, we find that, for a reasonably large set of initial conditions, the metric fluctuations grow fast enough to make the metric inhomogeneous before the cosmological constant becomes the dominant form of energy. We have examined values for the cosmological constant that are in the interval $10^{10} {GeV}$ to $10^{16} {GeV}$. Comment: 18 pages, published version03/2008; -
Article: Leptogenesis from Pseudo-Scalar Driven Inflation
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ABSTRACT: We examine recent claims for a considerable amount of leptogenesis, in some inflationary scenarios, through the gravitational anomaly in the lepton number current. We find that when the short distances contributions are properly included the amount of lepton number generated is actually much smaller.09/2007; -
Article: Space-like Singularities and Thermalization
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ABSTRACT: We conjecture that space-like singularities are simply regions in which all available degrees of freedom are excited, and the system cycles randomly through generic quantum states in its Hilbert space. There is no simple geometric description of the interior of such a region, but if it is embedded in a semi-classical space-time an external observer sees it as a black hole. Big Bang and Crunch singularities, for which there is no such embedding, must be described in purely quantum terms. We present several possible descriptions of such cosmologies.07/2006; -
Article: Infrared Divergences in dS/CFT
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ABSTRACT: dS/CFT gives a perturbatively gauge invariant definition of particle masses in de Sitter (dS) space. We show, in a toy model in which the graviton is replaced with a minimally coupled massless scalar field, that loop corrections to these masses are infrared (IR) divergent. We argue that this implies anomalous dependence of masses on the cosmological constant, in a true theory of quantum gravity. This is in accord with the hypothesis of Cosmological SUSY Breaking (CSB).08/2005; -
Article: The Holographic Approach to Cosmology
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ABSTRACT: We review the successes and challenges of the holographic approach to cosmology. The model predicts an exactly scale invariant fluctuation spectrum with long and short distance cut-offs. It can account for the observed fluctuations in the CMB and might explain the low power at large scales. We outline various cosmological histories compatible with holographic initial conditions. This paper is based on talks given by the authors at Cosmo 04 in Toronto, and the 2004 Tamura Symposium in Austin01/2005; -
Article: The Energy Density of "Wound" Fields in a Toroidal Universe
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ABSTRACT: The observational limits on the present energy density of the Universe allow for a component that redshifts like $1/a^2$ and can contribute significantly to the total. We show that a possible origin for such a contribution is that the universe has a toroidal topology with "wound" scalar fields around its cycles.08/2004; -
Article: Microscopic Quantum Mechanics of the p=\rho Universe
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ABSTRACT: We present a complete quantum mechanical description of a flat FRW universe with equation of state p=\rho. We find a detailed correspondence with our heuristic picture of such a universe as a dense black hole fluid. Features of the geometry are derived from purely quantum input. Comment: 45 pages, 8 figures08/2004; -
Article: Holographic Cosmology
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ABSTRACT: We describe a cosmology of the very early universe, based on the holographic principle of 't Hooft and Susskind. We have described the initial state as a dense black hole fluid. Here we present a mathematical model of this heuristic picture, as well as a non-rigorous discussion of how a more normal universe could evolve out of such a state. The gross features of the cosmology depend on a few parameters, which cannot yet be calculated from first principles. For some range of these parameters, microwave background fluctuations originate from fluctuations in the black hole fluid, and have characteristics different from those of most inflationary models.06/2004; -
Article: Holographic Cosmology 3.0
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ABSTRACT: We present a new version of holographic cosmology, which is compatible with present observations. A primordial $p=\rho$ phase of the universe is followed by a brief matter dominated era and a brief period of inflation, whose termination heats the universe. The flatness and horizon problems are solved by the $p=\rho$ dynamics. The model is characterized by two parameters, which should be calculable in a more fundamental approach to the theory. For a large range in the phenomenologically allowed parameter space, the observed fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background were generated during the $p=\rho$ era, and are exactly scale invariant. The scale invariant spectrum cuts off sharply at both upper and lower ends, and this may have observational consequences. We argue that the amplitude of fluctuations is small but cannot yet calculate it precisely. Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, based on talks presented by the authors at the Nobel Symposium, Sigtuna Stiftelsen, Sweden, June 14 -19, 2003 and at the Conference on String Theory and Cosmology, KITP, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA, October 20-24, 200310/2003; -
Article: An upper bound on the number of e-foldings
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ABSTRACT: If the present acceleration of the universe is due to an asymptotically de Sitter universe with small cosmological constant, and the principle of Cosmological Complementarity is valid, then the number of e-foldings during inflation is bounded.08/2003; -
Article: The Entropy of the Microwave Background and the Acceleration of the Universe
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ABSTRACT: If the present acceleration of the universe is due to a cosmological constant, \lambda, then the entropy of the microwave background is bounded. It cannot exceed \lambda^{-3/4} \sim 10^{91}, which is much less than the entropy of empty de Sitter space \lambda^{-1} \sim 10^{122}. This is due to the limited efficiency of storing entropy by local field theoretical degrees of freedom. The observed entropy of the microwave background is of O(10^{85}). Comment: 12 pages, 1 eps figure, Latex, references added07/2003; -
Article: Black Crunch
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ABSTRACT: We study the growth of fluctuations in collapsing cosmologies, extending old work of Lifshitz and Khalatnikov. As examples of systems where the fluctuations have a different composition than the background we study scalar fields with general improvement terms. Fluctuations always grow, and often dominate the homogeneous background. We argue that even for very dilute fluctuations, scattering processes inevitably lead to a dense gas of black holes. This leads us to hypothesize that the generic final state of a Big Crunch is described by a collapsing $p=\rho$ FRW cosmology. We conjecture that the black hole fluid is invariant under the conformal Killing symmetry of this metric, so that the final state is in fact stationary.01/2003; -
Article: Recurrent Nightmares?: Measurement Theory in de Sitter Space
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ABSTRACT: The idea that asymptotic de Sitter space can be described by a finite Hilbert Space implies that any quantum measurement has an irreducible innacuracy. We argue that this prevents any measurement from verifying the existence of the Poincare recurrences that occur in the mathematical formulation of quantum de Sitter (dS) space. It also implies that the mathematical quantum theory of dS space is not unique. There will be many different Hamiltonians, which give the same results, within the uncertainty in all possible measurements. Comment: 19 pages, no figures, unfortunate omission in references corrected10/2002; -
Article: Entropy of the Stiffest Stars
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ABSTRACT: We analyze the properties of stars whose interior is described by the stiffest equation of state consistent with causality. We note the remarkable fact that the entropy of such stars scales like the area. Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures06/2002; -
Article: An Holographic Cosmology
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ABSTRACT: We present a new cosmological model, based on the holographic principle, which shares many of the virtues of inflation. The very earliest semiclassical era of the universe is dominated by a dense gas of black holes, with equation of state $p=\rho$. Fluctuations lead to an instability to a phase with a dilute gas of black holes, which later decays via Hawking radiation to a radiation dominated universe. The quantum fluctuations of the initial state give rise to a scale invariant spectrum of density perturbations, for a range of scales. We point out a problem, that appears to prevent the range of scales predicted by the model from coinciding with the range where such a spectrum has been observed. We speculate that this may be related to our field theoretic treatment of fluctuations in the highly holographic $p=\rho$ background. The monopole problem is solved in a manner completely different from inflationary models, and a relic density of highly charged extremal black monopoles is predicted. We discuss the nature of the entropy and flatness problems in our model.12/2001; -
Article: The Acceleration of the Universe, a Challenge for String Theory
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ABSTRACT: Recent astronomical observations indicate that the universe is accelerating. We argue that generic quintessence models that accommodate the present day acceleration tend to accelerate eternally. As a consequence the resulting spacetimes exhibit event horizons. Hence, quintessence poses the same problems for string theory as asymptotic de Sitter spaces. Comment: JHEP, LaTeX, 12 pages, 4 figures. Added a reference, corrected typos04/2001; -
Article: M-theory observables for cosmological space-times
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ABSTRACT: We discuss the construction of the analog of an S-matrix for space-times that begin with a Big-Bang and asymptote to an FRW universe with nonnegative cosmological constant. When the cosmological constant is positive there are many such S-matrices, related mathematically by gauge transformations and physically by an analog of the principle of black hole complementarity. In the limit of vanishing $\Lambda$ these become (approximate) Poincare transforms of each other. Considerations of the initial state require a quantum treatment of space-time, and some preliminary steps towards constructing such a theory are proposed. In this context we propose a model for the earliest semiclassical state of the universe, which suggests a solution for the horizon problem different from that provided by inflation.03/2001;
Top co-authors
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Institutions
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2008
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Concordia University Texas
Austin, TX, USA
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1996–2002
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University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Physics
Austin, TX, USA
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1997
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Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA, USA
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