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Simple quantum cosmology: vacuum energy and initial state

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Abstract

A static non-singular 10-dimensional closed Friedmann universe of Planck size, filled with a perfect fluid with equation of state p = −\(\frac{2}{3}\)ε, can arise spontaneously by a quantum fluctuation from nothing in 11-dimensional spacetime. A quantum transition from this state can initiate the inflationary quantum cosmology outlined in [Gen. Relativ. Gravit. 33, 1415 (2001)]. With no fine-tuning, that cosmology predicts about 60 e-folds of inflation and a vacuum energy density depending only on the number of extra space dimensions (seven), G,ℏ, c and the ratio between the strength of gravity and the strength of the strong force. The fraction of the total energy in the universe represented by this vacuum energy depends on the Hubble constant H0. Estimates of H0 from WMAP, SDSS, the Hubble Key Project, and Sunyaev-Zeldovich and X-ray flux measurements range from 60 to 72 km s−1 Mpc−1. Using a mid-range value of H0 = 65 km s−1 Mpc−1, the model in [Gen. Relativ. Gravit. 33, 1415 (2001)] predicts Ω Λ≈ 0.7.

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  1. 84 Marin Avenue, Sausalito, CA, 94965, USA

    T. R. Mongan

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  1. T. R. Mongan
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Correspondence to T. R. Mongan.

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Mongan, T.R. Simple quantum cosmology: vacuum energy and initial state. Gen Relativ Gravit 37, 967–970 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10714-005-0079-y

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