Twin Universes and Bimetric Gravity: From Sakharov's Cosmological Symmetry to Modern Speculations on Negative Mass
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We review the conceptual and theoretical status of twin-universe models, from Sakharov's early ideas on baryogenesis, CPT symmetry, and reversed arrows of time to recent quantum-cosmological scenarios involving pair-created entangled universes. Particular attention is given to the distinction between Sakharov-type cosmological symmetry, modern bimetric theories of gravity, and speculative models involving negative mass sectors. We summarize the main consistency conditions faced by bimetric gravity, including the Boulware-Deser ghost, Higuchi-type bounds, covariant conservation laws, and no-go results for positive- and negative-mass sectors. We then examine the Janus cosmological model and related black-hole replacement proposals, emphasizing the difference between heuristic twin-universe narratives and fully specified relativistic field theories. We argue that while twin-universe ideas remain a fertile framework for questions about the arrow of time, matter-antimatter asymmetry, and the quantum origin of the universe, models combining bimetric gravity, negative mass, dark-sector phenomenology, and alternatives to Kerr black holes face a substantial burden of mathematical and observational proof.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Author: Luminet, Jean-Pierre
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7214405934