Dark energy and the return of the phoenix universe

Jean Luc Lehners, Paul J. Steinhardt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

45 Scopus citations

Abstract

In cyclic universe models based on a single scalar field (e.g., the radion determining the distance between branes in M theory), virtually the entire Universe makes it through the ekpyrotic smoothing and flattening phase, bounces, and enters a new epoch of expansion and cooling. This stable evolution cannot occur, however, if scale-invariant curvature perturbations are produced by the entropic mechanism because it requires two scalar fields (e.g., the radion and the Calabi-Yau dilaton) evolving along an unstable classical trajectory. In fact, we show here that an overwhelming fraction of the Universe fails to make it through the ekpyrotic phase; nevertheless, a sufficient volume survives and cycling continues forever provided the dark energy phase of the cycle lasts long enough, of order a trillion years. Two consequences are a new role for dark energy and a global structure of the Universe radically different from that of eternal inflation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number063503
JournalPhysical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology
Volume79
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2 2009

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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