Lectures on string theory and cosmology

Abstract: In these lectures I review recent attempts to apply string theory to cosmology, including string cosmology and various models of brane cosmology. In addition, the review includes an introduction to inflation as well as a discussion of transplanckian signatures. I also provide a critical discussion of the possible role of holography. The material is based on lectures given in January 2004 at the RTN String School in Barcelona, but also contain some additional material.

Review text

String theory was long described as an attempt to find the unique theory of the world. The idea, well in line with the venerable philosophy of Leibniz, was that mathematical necessity fully determines the fundamental law of nature leaving no room for chance or choice. The hope of finding one unique string theory is far from being realized. Instead, there seem to be an infinite number of consistent compactifications in various dimensions. Nevertheless, string theory has reached a degree of maturity that allows for the formulation of realistic cosmological models. In the paper under review, the author presents a review of recent attempts to connect string theory with cosmology and to establish that cosmology can be the key to the verification of string and brane theory. Any such attempt must be confronted with the concept of inflation, that is, the widely held view that the early universe underwent a period of exponential expansion [\textit{W. Rindler}, Relativity, Special, General and Cosmological. Oxford University Press (Oxford, New York) (2001; Zbl 0981.83001)]. A complete theory of the early universe has to explain inflation [\textit{A. R. Liddle, D. H. Lyth}, Cosmological Inflation and Large-Scale Structure. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York, Melbourne (2000; Zbl 0952.83001)]. The paper reviews two sets of proposals: Models that generate inflation, and models that try to do without the concept of inflation. It provides a discussion of some of the difficulties encountered in constructing string theories in de Sitter spaces [\textit{S. W. Hawking, G. F. R. Ellis}, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, New York, Melbourne) (1973; Zbl 0265.53054)]. Finally, it provides a discussion of the relevance of holography to cosmology [\textit{L. Susskind}, ``The world as a hologram. J. Math. Phys. 36, 6377--6396 (1995; Zbl 0850.00013)] and concludes with some comments on the anthropic principle.

Recommendations

Cited in

(7)

This page was built for publication: Lectures on string theory and cosmology

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q4682081)