Simulating the universe(s): from cosmic bubble collisions to cosmological observables with numerical relativity
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: The theory of eternal inflation in an inflaton potential with multiple vacua predicts that our universe is one of many bubble universes nucleating and growing inside an ever-expanding false vacuum. The collision of our bubble with another could provide an important observational signature to test this scenario. We develop and implement an algorithm for accurately computing the cosmological observables arising from bubble collisions directly from the Lagrangian of a single scalar field. We first simulate the collision spacetime by solving Einstein's equations, starting from nucleation and ending at reheating. Taking advantage of the collision's hyperbolic symmetry, the simulations are performed with a 1+1-dimensional fully relativistic code that uses adaptive mesh refinement. We then calculate the comoving curvature perturbation in an open Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe, which is used to determine the temperature anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background radiation. For a fiducial Lagrangian, the anisotropies are well described by a power law in the cosine of the angular distance from the center of the collision signature. For a given form of the Lagrangian, the resulting observational predictions are inherently statistical due to stochastic elements of the bubble nucleation process. Further uncertainties arise due to our imperfect knowledge about inflationary and pre-recombination physics. We characterize observational predictions by computing the probability distributions over four phenomenological parameters which capture these intrinsic and model uncertainties. This represents the first fully-relativistic set of predictions from an ensemble of scalar field models giving rise to eternal inflation, yielding significant differences from previous non-relativistic approximations. Thus, our results provide a basis for a rigorous confrontation of these theories with cosmological data.
Authors: Carroll L. Wainwright, Matthew C. Johnson, Hiranya V. Peiris, Anthony Aguirre, Luis Lehner, Steven L. Liebling
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,290
Funders: National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Foundational Questions Institute, Government of Canada, Leverhulme Trust, Industry Canada, Institut Périmètre de physique théorique, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Science and Technology Facilities Council
Awards: G2800009104, Collaborative Research: Loud, Bright, and Hot Compact Binary Mergers, G3456816189, G3467815775, G4104599821, Cosmology from Surveys, Collaborative Research: Dynamics and Gravitational Wave Production of Neutron Stars and Black Holes, WE PROPOSE TO CONDUCT FULLY RELATIVISTIC SIMULATIONS OF THE MERGER OF COMPACT OBJECTS TO INVESTIGATE THEIR CONNECTION TO THE POPULATION OF SHORT-DURA
OpenAlex ID: W2027437664