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String Theory Demystified

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CHAPTER 16 <strong>String</strong> <strong>Theory</strong> and Cosmology 267<br />

and cools with its dynamics evolving according to Einstein’s equations. Interestingly,<br />

the universe exhibits a great deal of uniformity on large scales that the standard bigbang<br />

model is hard pressed to explain.<br />

To understand the type of uniformity we are talking about, we can think of everyday<br />

life. Imagine heating a cup of tea in the microwave and then taking it out and setting<br />

it on the counter. Over time, the cup of tea will cool and if we leave it there long<br />

enough, it will reach an equilibrium point where it is the same temperature as its<br />

surroundings.<br />

The same kind of behavior has occurred on the largest scales of the universe. If<br />

we examine the universe on large scales where we divide it up into cubes that have<br />

sides which are on the order of hundreds of millions of light years across, we fi nd<br />

• Homogeneity: On large scales on the average the universe is the same<br />

everywhere. That is each cube has the same galaxy density, the same mass<br />

density, and the same luminosity.<br />

• Isotropy: We have already mentioned that standard cosmology assumes<br />

the universe is isotropic, or the same in every direction. Observation bears<br />

this out to an incredibly high degree.<br />

The problem with standard big-bang theory and these observations is that the<br />

universe evolved too quickly for equilibrium in the sense we described with the cup<br />

of tea, could have occurred. There would not have been enough time for light signals<br />

to connect different spatial regions, so how could they have “communicated” so as to<br />

end up in exactly the same confi guration?<br />

Another problem with standard big-bang cosmology is known as the fl atness<br />

problem. The universe is fl at and the mass density of the early universe was<br />

apparently so exactly fi ne-tuned to give the observed fl atness that it is hard to<br />

imagine how this could be coincidence. The critical mass density is defi ned in<br />

terms of the Hubble constant:<br />

H<br />

ρ = c<br />

πG<br />

3<br />

2<br />

8<br />

where G is Newton’s gravitational constant. Now defi ne<br />

(16.3)<br />

Ω= ρ<br />

(16.4)<br />

ρc where r is the actual mass density in the universe. Now let ∆ be the cosmological<br />

constant. If<br />

Ω Λ<br />

+ 3 2<br />

H (16.5)

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