Quantum gravity and the “flatness problem” of the standard big bang universe

It is shown that, if the universe originated through quantum conformal fluctuations from the empty Minkowski space, then it is most likely to be spatially flat.     

Logarithmic asymptotic flatness

We present a general family of asymptotic solutions to Einstein's equation which are asymptotically flat but do not satisfy the peeling theorem. Near scri, the Weyl tensor obeys a logarithmic asymptotic flatness condition and has a partial peeling property. The physical significance of this asymptotic behavior arises from a quasi-Newtonian treatment of the radiation from a collapsing dust cloud. Practically all the scri formalism carries over intact to this new version of asymptotic flatness.     

On asymptotic flatness

Starting with a few basic assumptions on the local asymptotic behavior of space-time and using Penrose's conformal technique the asymptotic behavior of both the physical and unphysical metric is obtained in a Bondi-type coordinate system. The space-times under consideration are not necessarily empty in the asymptotic region nor are they necessarily asymptotically flat. However, they do have the usual falloff behavior as one goes out toward infinity in a given null direction. The assumptions made in this paper and the resultant metrics are compared with those of Persides in his recent paper on the definition of asymptotic flatness.     

Observation of B+ --> Lambda c+ Lambda c- K+ and B0 --> Lambda c+ Lambda c- K0 decays

We report the first measurements of the doubly charmed baryonic B decays B --> Lambda c+ Lambda c- K. The B+ --> Lambda c+ Lambda c- K+ decay is observed with a branching fraction of (6.5(-0.9)(+1.0)+/-1.1+/-3.4)x10(-4) and a statistical significance of 15.4sigma. The B0 --> Lambda c+ Lambda c- K0 decay is observed with a branching fraction of (7.9(-2.3)(+2.9)+/-1.2+/-4.1)x10(-4) and a statistical significance of 6.6sigma. The branching fraction errors are statistical, systematic, and the error resulting from the uncertainty of the Lambda c+ --> pK- pi+ decay branching fraction. The analysis is based on 357 fb(-1) of data accumulated at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+ e- collider.     

Faddeev-Yakubovsky search for ( 4 )( Lambda Lambda)H

Evidence for particle stability of ( 4 )( LambdaLambda)H has been suggested by the BNL-AGS E906 experiment. We report on Faddeev-Yakubovsky calculations for the four-body LambdaLambdapn system using LambdaN interactions which reproduce the observed binding energy of (3)(Lambda)H(1 / 2(+)) within a Faddeev calculation for the Lambdapn subsystem. No ( 4 )( LambdaLambda)H bound state is found over a wide range of LambdaLambda interaction strengths, although the Faddeev equations for a three-body LambdaLambdad model of ( 4 )( LambdaLambda)H admit a 1(+) bound state for as weak a LambdaLambda interaction strength as required to reproduce B(LambdaLambda)(( 6 )( LambdaLambda)He).     

Resonance structures in the \Lambda \bar \Lambda system

The results of studying the $\Lambda \bar \Lambda $ system produced in the reaction π^? p→ $\Lambda \bar \Lambda $ n at a π^?-meson energy of 40 GeV are reported. Experimental data (～2300 events) were obtained on the ITEP 6-meter spectrometer with a beam of the IHEP U-70 accelerator. The invariant-mass spectra for the events dominated by the singlet or triplet $\Lambda \bar \Lambda $ states were found to differ considerably from each other. The data give evidence for the existence of resonance $\Lambda \bar \Lambda $ states of the system in the mass regions near 2.3, 2.5, and 2.8 GeV.     

The problems of singularity particle horizon and flatness in quantum cosmology

Classical relativistic cosmology is known to have the space-time singularity as an inevitable feature. The standard big bang models have very small particle horizons in the early stages which make it difficult to understand the observed homogeneity in the universe. The relatively narrow range of the observed matter density in the neighbourhood of closure density requires highly fine tuning of the early universe. In this paper it is argued that these three problems can be satisfactorily resolved in quantum cosmology. It is shown that it is extremely unlikely that the universe evolved to the present state from quantum states with singularity and particle horizon. Similarly, it is shown that of all possible states the Robertson-Walker model of flat spatial sections is the most likely state for the universe to evolve out of a quantum fluctuation. To demonstrate these results a suitable formalism for quantum cosmology is first developed.     

Measurement of the Lambda b lifetime in the exclusive decay Lambda b --> J/psi Lambda

We have measured the Lambda b lifetime using the exclusive decay Lambda b --> J/psi Lambda, based on 1.2 fb(-1) of data collected with the D0 detector during 2002-2006. From 171 reconstructed Lambda b decays, where the J/psi and Lambda are identified via the decays J/psi --> mu+ mu- and Lambda --> ppi, we measured the Lambda b lifetime to be tau(Lambda b)=1.218 (+0.130)/(-0.115) (stat) +/- 0.042(syst) ps. We also measured the B0 lifetime in the decay B0 --> J/psi(mu+ mu-)K(0)/(S)(pi+ pi-) to be tau(B0)=1.501 (+0.078)/(-0.074) (stat) +/- 0.050(syst) ps, yielding a lifetime ratio of tau(Lambda b)/tau(B0)=0.811 (+0.096)/(-0.087) (stat) +/- 0.034(syst).