Why 10^520 Universes in String Theory Landscape

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the connection between eternal inflation and the string theory landscape, specifically the concept of 10^520 possible universes. Participants seek to understand the origins of this figure and the scientific literature that supports it, including the underlying equations and articles that discuss false vacua solutions.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about the original scientific article proposing the existence of 10^520 possible universes and expresses difficulty in finding concise documentation on the topic.
  • Another participant suggests a Wikipedia article and a specific review by M. Douglas as potential resources for understanding the string theory landscape.
  • A different participant discusses the role of Calabi-Yau manifolds in compactification and the significance of fluxes in determining the number of vacuum states, proposing that these factors contribute to the estimated 10^500 possibilities.
  • A later reply references an article that supports the previous claims regarding Calabi-Yau manifolds and their implications for the number of possible universes.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying levels of familiarity with the topic and suggest different resources, but there is no consensus on a definitive source or explanation regarding the 10^520 universes. The discussion remains unresolved with multiple viewpoints presented.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention the complexity of the concepts involved, including the size and shape of Calabi-Yau manifolds and the quantization of fluxes, but do not resolve the underlying assumptions or mathematical details necessary for a complete understanding.

Quantizer
Messages
26
Reaction score
0
I am trying to understand the connection between eternal inflation and the the string theory landscape of 10^520 possible universes

Where is the original scientific article that proposed so many false vacua solutions

If anyone can point me to the underlying equation and article that articulates there are up to 10^520 possible universes that would be very much appreciated

Btw, I have just joined Physics Forums, searched high and low in google and in these forums but cannot find any definitive answers documented concisely anywhere
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I wrote this before so you can probably use some key words below to find relevant references. I have actually written a layman version. Bapowell already gave you the hint.
andrien said:
It has to do with the size and shape of the calabi-Yau manifold with the help of which the compactification is done. you need something extra to avoid the moduli problem for which you need fluxes, which somehow give it a definite size and it will now take energy to change the shape of the manifold. These fluxes are somekind of threading lines through the holes of the manifolds. A calabi-yau in 6 dimensions has around 500 holes,and fluxes themselves are quantized (say take value from 0 to 9) which gives around ##10^{500}## possibilities. Each one of which corresponds to different vacuum, one of which is ours corresponding to almost zero cosmological constant.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
3K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
4K
  • · Replies 73 ·
3
Replies
73
Views
19K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
4K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
6K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
5K
Replies
1
Views
3K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
6K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K