2018 Spring Physics Colloquium Series
Shinji Mukohyama, Ph.D.
Professor Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics
Kyoto University, Japan
Solving the Flatness Problem with an Anisotropic Instanton in Horava-Lifshitz Gravity
The first half of this talk reviews the basic construction and some known cosmological implications of a renormalizable theory of gravitation called Horava-Lishitz gravity. In particular, I will explain that (i) the anisotropic scaling with the dynamical critical exponent z=3 renders a field theory of gravity renormalizable, that (ii) the same anisotropic scaling solves the horizon problem and leads to scale-invariant cosmological perturbations even without inflation and that (iii) the infrared instability of the so-called projectable version of the theory can be tamed under a certain condition. We then propose a possible solution to the cosmological flatness problem, in which we assume that the initial condition of the Universe is set by a small instanton respecting the same anisotropic scaling.
For more information contact: Dr. Anzhong Wang 254-710-2276
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