2003/03/31 by Bruno Carneiro da Cunha, Emil J. Martinec · 4 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Condensation #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Mathematical physics #Non-critical string theory #Physics #String (physics) #Tachyon #Tachyon condensation #Tachyonic field #Thermodynamics #Worldsheet #gr-qc #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.68.063502
published as Phys.Rev. D68 (2003) 063502 · 40 pages, latex, 8 .eps figures; v2: typos and an error in the pair production rate corrected, a few comments added
arxiv created 2003/04/14 · openalex publication_date 2003/09/08 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Closed string tachyon condensation in spacetime generates potentials on the worldsheet that model two-dimensional inflationary cosmology. These models illustrate and elucidate a variety of aspects of inflation, in particular the generation of quantum fluctuations and their back reaction on geometry. We exhibit a class of Liouville gravity models coupled to matter that can exhibit, for example, (a) pure de Sitter gravity, (b) slow-roll inflation, (c) topological inflation, and (d) graceful exit into a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) phase. The models also provide a quantitative testing ground for ideas about the origin of inflation, such as the various ``no-boundary or tunnelling'' proposals, and the ``eternal or chaotic'' inflationary scenario. We suggest an alternative mechanism for quantum creation of cosmological spacetimes which, in the context of the model, provides a natural explanation for why the typical FRW cosmology at large scales underwent a period of inflation at small scale.