2001/01/31 by Christos Charmousis, Roberto Emparan, Ruth Gregory · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #gr-qc #hep-ph #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1126-6708/2001/05/026
published as JHEP 0105:026,2001 · 22 pages, 2 figures. v2: comments added on (a) the generality of the effect described; (b) the possibility of generating a large tension/thickness ratio by stacking branes
arxiv created 2001/02/02 · openalex publication_date 2001/05/15 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We examine the inclusion of brane self-gravity in brane-world scenarios with three or more compact extra dimensions. If the brane is a thin, localized one, then we find that the geometry in its vicinity is warped in such a way that gravity on the brane can become very weak, independently of the volume of the extra dimensions. As a consequence, self-gravity can make the brane structure enter into the determination of the hierarchy between the Planck scale and a lower fundamental scale. In an extreme case, one can obtain a novel reformulation of the hierarchy problem in brane worlds, without the need for large-size extra dimensions; the hierarchy would be generated when the ratio between the scales of brane tension and brane thickness is large. In a sense, such a scenario is half-way between the one of Arkani-Hamed et al.(ADD) (although with TeV-mass Kaluza-Klein states) and that of Randall and Sundrum (RS1) (but with only a TeV brane, and of positive tension). We discuss in detail the propagation of fields in the background of this geometry, and find that no problems appear even if the brane is taken to be very thin. We also discuss the presence of black branes and black holes in this setting, and the possibility of having a Planck brane.