2018 Spring Physics Colloquium Series: Shinji Mukohyama, Ph.D.

DateMarch 21, 2018
Time4:00 - 5:00 pm
LocationBaylor Sciences Building, Room E.125
Description
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
PublisherDepartment of Physics
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