The boundary proposal

One of the leading ideas for the beginning of the Universe is the Hartle-Hawking ‘No-Boundary Proposal.’ Since the Cobordism Conjecture claims that any spacetime allows for a dynamical boundary, we suggest that one may equally well consider a ‘Boundary Proposal’. Specifically, the corresponding eucl...

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Main Authors: Friedrich, Bjoern (Author) , Hebecker, Arthur (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: September 2024
In: Physics letters
Year: 2024, Volume: 856, Pages: 1-7
ISSN:1873-2445
DOI:10.1016/j.physletb.2024.138946
Online Access:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2024.138946
Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269324005045
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Author Notes:Bjoern Friedrich, Arthur Hebecker
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Summary:One of the leading ideas for the beginning of the Universe is the Hartle-Hawking ‘No-Boundary Proposal.’ Since the Cobordism Conjecture claims that any spacetime allows for a dynamical boundary, we suggest that one may equally well consider a ‘Boundary Proposal’. Specifically, the corresponding euclidean instanton is a sphere with two holes around north and south pole cut out. Analogously to the Hartle-Hawking proposal, the sphere is then cut in two at the equator and half of it is dropped. The equator is glued to an expanding Lorentzian de Sitter space, implementing a beginning of the Universe with a spacelike spherical boundary at its earliest moment. This process is in principle on equal footing with the one based on the no-boundary instanton. In fact, if the Linde-Vilenkin sign choice is used, this ‘Boundary’ creation process may even dominate. An intriguing implication arises if tensionless end-of-the-world branes, as familiar from type-IIA or M-theory, are available: Analogously to the Boundary Proposal, one may then be able to create a compact, flat torus universe from nothing, without any exponential suppression or enhancement factors.
Item Description:Online verfügbar: 8. August 2024, Artikelversion: 9. August 2024
Gesehen am 20.03.2025
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1873-2445
DOI:10.1016/j.physletb.2024.138946