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Relaxing to three dimensions.

Andreas Karch1, Lisa Randall

  • 1Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195, USA.

Physical Review Letters
|October 26, 2005
PubMed
Summary
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The universe may select its vacuum state based on cosmological evolution, favoring configurations with the largest filling fraction. This "relaxation principle" suggests why our universe might experience three spatial dimensions.

Area of Science:

  • Cosmology
  • Theoretical Physics
  • String Theory

Background:

  • The existence of multiple possible vacuum states in theoretical physics presents a challenge for explaining our observed universe.
  • Understanding the fundamental number of spatial dimensions is a key question in cosmology and theoretical physics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce a new selection principle, the "relaxation principle," for distinguishing between possible vacuum states.
  • To apply this principle to explain the observed number of spatial dimensions in our universe.

Main Methods:

  • Proposed the "relaxation principle," suggesting the universe favors vacua with the largest filling fraction through cosmological evolution.
  • Applied this principle to a higher-dimensional Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological model.

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Main Results:

  • Demonstrated that under Friedmann-Robertson-Walker evolution, a universe with an equal number of branes and antibranes naturally becomes dominated by 3-branes and 7-branes.
  • The relaxation principle provides a potential explanation for the observed three spatial dimensions.

Conclusions:

  • The relaxation principle offers a novel mechanism for vacuum selection in cosmology.
  • This principle may resolve the question of why our universe exhibits three spatial dimensions, consistent with brane cosmology.