The Universe:

a sphere, a donut, or a
fractal?

Andrei Linde
 Contents:
Contents:
 From the Big Bang theory to Inflationary Cosmology
and the theory of Dark Energy
 Inflation as a theory of a harmonic oscillator
 Inflation in string theory
 Initial conditions for inflation
 Does our universe looks like a sphere or like a bagel?
 Eternal inflation and string theory landscape: From a
bagel to a fractal
Two major cosmological discoveries:

 The new-born universe experienced rapid

acceleration (inflation)

 A new (slow) stage of acceleration started

5 billion years ago (dark energy)

How did it start, and how it is going to end?

Closed, open or flat universe
Big Bang Theory
Inflationary Universe
 Why do we need inflation?
Problems of the standard Big Bang theory:

 What was before the Big Bang?

 Why is our universe so homogeneous (better than
1 part in 10000) ?
 Why is it isotropic (the same in all directions)?
 Why all of its parts started expanding
simultaneously?
 Why it is flat?
flat Why parallel lines do not intersect?
Why it contains so many particles? Why there are
so many people in this auditorium?
Inflation as a theory of a harmonic oscillator

Eternal Inflation
 Equations of motion:
 Einstein:

 Klein-Gordon:

Compare with equation for the harmonic oscillator with

friction:
 Logic of Inflation:
Large φ large H large friction

field φ moves very slowly, so that its potential

energy for a long time remains nearly constant

No need for false vacuum, supercooling, phase transitions, etc.

 Inflation makes the universe flat,
homogeneous and isotropic

In this simple model the

universe typically grows
101000000000000 times during
inflation.

Now we can see just a

tiny part of the universe
of size ct = 1010 light yrs.
That is why the universe
looks homogeneous,
isotropic, and flat.
Generation of Quantum Fluctuations
Fluctuations

QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
WMAP and the temperature of the sky
 Name Recognition

Stephen
Hawking
 A photographic image of
quantum fluctuations blown
up to the size of the
universe
 WMAP
and spectrum of the
cosmic microwave
background anisotropy
Add a constant to the inflationary potential
- obtain inflation and acceleration

acceleration

inflation
 Predictions
Predictions of
of Inflation:
Inflation:

1) The universe should be homogeneous, isotropic

and flat,  = 1 + O(10-4) [
Observations: the universe is homogeneous, isotropic
and flat,  = 1 + O(10-2)

• Inflationary perturbations should be gaussian

and adiabatic, with flat spectrum, ns = 1+ O(10-1)

Observations: perturbations are gaussian and adiabatic,

with flat spectrum, ns = 1 + O(10-2)
 Chaotic inflation in supergravity
Main problem:

Canonical Kahler potential is

Therefore the potential blows up at large |φ|, and slow-roll

inflation is impossible:

Too steep, no inflation…

 A solution: shift symmetry
Kawasaki, Yamaguchi, Yanagida 2000

Equally good Kahler potential

and superpotential

The potential is very curved with respect to X and Re φ, so

these fields vanish.
But Kahler potential does not depend on

The potential of this field has the simplest form, without any
exponential terms:
 Inflation in String Theory
The volume stabilization problem:
A potential of the theory obtained by compactification in
string theory of type IIB:

X and Y are canonically normalized field corresponding to the dilaton field

and to the volume of the compactified space;  is the field driving inflation

The potential with respect to X and Y is very steep, these fields rapidly run
down, and the potential energy V vanishes. We must stabilize these fields.

Dilaton stabilization: Giddings, Kachru, Polchinski 2001

Kachru, Kallosh, A.L., Trivedi 2003

Volume stabilization: KKLT construction
Burgess, Kallosh, Quevedo, 2003
Maloney, Silverstein, Strominger, in non-critical string theory
 Volume stabilization
Kachru, Kallosh, A.L., Trivedi 2003

Basic steps of the KKLT scenario:

1) Start with a theory with runaway potential discussed above

2) Bend this potential down due to (nonperturbative) quantum effects
3) Uplift the minimum to the state with positive vacuum energy by adding
a positive energy of an anti-D3 brane in warped Calabi-Yau space

AdS minimum Metastable dS minimum

 The results:
 It seems possible to stabilize internal dimensions,
and to obtain an accelerating universe. Eventually,
our part of the universe will decay and become ten-
dimensional, but it will only happen in 1010120 years

 Apparently, vacuum stabilization can be achieved in

10100 - 101000 different ways. This means that the
potential energy V of string theory may have 10100 -
101000 minima where we (or somebody else) can
enjoy life
String Theory Landscape

Perhaps 10100
100
- 101000
1000

different minima

Lerche,
Lerche, Lust,
Lust, Schellekens
Schellekens 1987
1987

Bousso, Polchinski; Susskind; Douglas, Denef,…

Inflation in string theory

KKLMMT brane-anti-brane inflation

D3/D7 brane inflation

Racetrack modular inflation

DBI inflation
Example: Racetrack Inflation

waterfall from the

saddle point
Many versions of stringy inflation (KKLMMT, D3/D7) are
similar to hybrid inflation. In such models inflation ends
with a “waterfall,” which may result in production of cosmic
strings. Gravitational waves produced by such strings may
serve as a unique source of information about string theory

Tye et al 2002, KKLMMT 2003, Polchinski et al 2004

 STRING
STRING COSMOLOGY
COSMOLOGY AND
AND GRAVITINO
GRAVITINO MASS
MASS
The height of the KKLT barrier is smaller than |VAdS| =m23/2. The
inflationary potential Vinfl cannot be much higher than the height of the
barrier. Inflationary Hubble constant is given by H2 = Vinfl/3 < m23/2.

V
Modification of
V at large H

VAdS

Constraint on the Hubble constant in this class of

models:
H < m3/2
In the AdS minimum in the KKLT construction

Therefore
 A new class of KKLT models
Kallosh, A.L. hep-th/0411011
One can obtain a supersymmetric Minkowski
vacuum without any uplifting of the potential

Inflation in the new class of KKLT

models can occur at H >> m3/2

Small mass of gravitino, no correlation with the height of the barrier

and with the Hubble constant during inflation
One of the problem with string inflation is that
inflation in such models starts relatively late. A
typical closed universe will collapse before inflation
begins. Open or flat universes would not collapse,
but they are infinite, it is hard to make them...
Can we create a finite flat universe?

Yes we can!
Take a box (a part of a flat universe) and glue its
opposite sides to each other. What we obtain is a
torus, which is a topologically nontrivial flat
universe.
The size of the torus (our
universe) grows as t1/2,
whereas the mean free path of
a relativistic particle grows
much faster, as t

Therefore until the

beginning of inflation
the universe remains
smaller that the size of
the horizon t
 If the universe initially had a Planckian size (the smallest
possible size), then within the cosmological time t >> 1 (in
Planck units) particles run around the torus many times and
appear in all parts of the universe with equal probability,
which makes the universe homogeneous and keeps it
homogeneous until the beginning of inflation

Zeldovich, Starobinsky 1984; Cornish, Starkman, Spergel 1996; A.L. hep-th/0408164

 Closed versus compact flat universe
in quantum cosmology

tunneling

Closed universe Compact flat universe

Wave function is exponentially Wave function is not
suppressed at large scale factor a exponentially suppressed
Creation of a closed inflationary universe, and of
an infinite flat or open universe is exponentially
less probable than creation of a compact
topologically nontrivial flat or open universe

Spheres are expensive, bagels are free

This generalizes the standard Kaluza-Klein idea

that some spatial dimensions are compactified.
Now it seems likely that all spatial dimensions are
compactified. Some of them remain small (KKLT
mechanism), whereas some other dimensions
become large due to inflation
This does not necessarily mean that our
universe looks like a torus. Inflation in string
theory is always eternal, due to large
number of metastable dS vacua (string
theory landscape).

The new-born universe typically looks

like a bagel, but the grown-up universe
looks like an eternally growing fractal.
Self-reproducing Inflationary Universe
Populating the Landscape

QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Landscape of eternal inflation