Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1851666 Physics Letters B 2014 4 Pages PDF
Abstract

Resolution of cosmological singularities is an important problem in any full theory of quantum gravity. The Milne orbifold is a cosmology with a big-bang/big-crunch singularity, but being a quotient of flat space it holds potential for resolution in string theory. It is known, however, that some perturbative string amplitudes diverge in the Milne geometry. Here we show that flat space higher spin theories can effect a simple resolution of the Milne singularity when one embeds the latter in 2+12+1 dimensions. We explain how to reconcile this with the expectation that non-perturbative string effects are required for resolving Milne. Along the way, we introduce a Grassmann realization of the İnönü–Wigner contraction to export much of the AdS technology to our flat space computation.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Physics and Astronomy Nuclear and High Energy Physics
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