2000/03/31 by Jiunn-Wei Chen, Markus A. Luty, Eduardo Ponton +1 · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Brane #Classical mechanics #Compactification (mathematics) #Cosmological constant #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Extra dimensions #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Geometry #Gravitational singularity #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Singularity #Spacetime #Theoretical physics #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1126-6708/2000/09/012
published as JHEP 0009 (2000) 012 · 15 pages, LaTeX2e. Major revisions; see abstract
arxiv created 2000/06/23 · openalex publication_date 2000/09/08 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We consider `brane universe' scenarios with standard-model fields localized on a 3-brane in 6 spacetime dimensions. We show that if the spacetime is rotationally symmetric about the brane, local quantities in the bulk are insensitive to the couplings on the brane. This potentially allows compactifications where the effective 4-dimensional cosmological constant is independent of the couplings on the 3-brane. We consider several possible singularity-free compactification mechanisms, and find that they do not maintain this property. We also find solutions with naked spacetime singularities, and we speculate that new short-distance physics can become important near the singularities and allow a compactification with the desired properties. The picture that emerges is that standard-model loop contributions to the effective 4-dimensional cosmological constant can be cut off at distances shorter than the compactification scale. At shorter distance scales, renormalization effects due to standard-model fields renormalize the 3-brane tension, which changes a deficit angle in the transverse space without affecting local quantities in the bulk. For a compactification scale of order 10-2 mm, this gives a standard-model contribution to the cosmological constant in the range favored by cosmology.