Schwarzschild Solution on the Brane

In this paper it is shown that Schwarzschild solution is possible in brane world for some specific choices of brane matter and the non-local effects from the bulk. A conformally flat bulk space time with fine-tuned vacuum energy (brane tension) shows that Schwarzschild solution may also be the vacuum solution for brane world scenario.     

On the problem of vacuum energy in brane theories

We point out that modern brane theories suffer from a severe vacuum energy problem. To be specific, the Casimir energy associated with the matter fields confined to the brane, is stemming from the one and the same localization mechanism which forms the brane itself, and is thus generically unavoidable. Possible practical solutions are discussed, including in particular spontaneously broken supersymmetry, and quantum mechanically induced brane tension.     

The cosmological constant and dark energy in braneworlds

We review recent attempts to address the cosmological constant problem and the late-time acceleration of the Universe based on braneworld models. In braneworld models, the way in which the vacuum energy gravitates in the 4D spacetime is radically different from conventional 4D physics. It is possible that the vacuum energy on a brane does not curve the 4D spacetime and only affects the geometry of the extra-dimensions, offering a solution to the cosmological constant problem. We review the idea of supersymmetric large extra dimensions that could achieve this and also provide a natural candidate for a quintessence field. We also review the attempts to explain the late-time accelerated expansion of the universe from the large-distance modification of gravity based on the braneworld. We use the Dvali–Gabadadze–Porrati model to demonstrate how one can distinguish this model from dark energy models in 4D general relativity. Theoretical difficulties in this approach are also addressed.     

Restoring holographic dark energy in brane cosmology

We present a generalized version of holographic dark energy arguing that it must be considered in the maximally subspace of a cosmological model. In the context of brane cosmology it leads to a bulk holographic dark energy which transfers its holographic nature to the effective 4D dark energy. As an application we use a single-brane model and we show that in the low energy limit the behavior of the effective holographic dark energy coincides with that predicted by conventional 4D calculations. However, a finite bulk can lead to radically different results.     

Randall-Sundrum model for self-tuning the cosmological constant

The vanishing cosmological constant in the four-dimensional space-time is obtained in a 5D Randall-Sundrum model with a brane (B1) located at y = 0. The matter fields can be located at the brane. For settling any vacuum energy generated at the brane to zero, we need a three-index antisymmetric tensor field A(MNP) with a specific form for the Lagrangian. For the self-tuning mechanism, the bulk cosmological constant should be negative.     

Time delays of strings in D-particle backgrounds and vacuum refractive indices

Using standard techniques in string/D-brane scattering amplitude computations, we evaluate the scattering of open strings off D-particles in brane world scenarios. The D-particles are viewed as D3 branes wrapped up around three cycles, and their embedding in brane worlds constitutes a case of intersecting branes, among which strings are stretched, representing various types of excitations of the Standard Model (SM) particles in the low-energy limit. Our analysis, reveals interesting and novel selection rules for the resulting causal time delays, proportional to the energy of the incident matter state, from the processes of splitting, capture and re-emission of the latter by the D-particles. There are relatively large time delays only for excitations that belong to the Cartan subalgebra of the SM gauge group, which notably includes photons. We discuss the possible relevance of these results to models of space time foam with non-trivial vacuum refractive index for photons and demonstrate how current astrophysical observations can be used to discriminate low- from high-string-scale models in this context.     

Branes, geometry and N = 1 duality with product gauge groups of SO and Sp

We study N = 1 dualities in four-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories as the world volume theory of D4 branes with one compact direction in type IIA string theory. We generalize the previous work for SO(N_c1) × Sp(N_c2) with the superpotential W = TrX⁴ to the case of W = TrX^4(k+1) in terms of brane configuration. We conjecture that the new dualities for the product gauge groups of SO(N_c1) × Sp(N_c2) × SO(N_c3), SO(N_c1) × Sp(N_c2) × SO(N_c3) × Sp(N_c4) and higher multiple product gauge groups can be obtained by reversing the ordering of NS5 branes and D6 branes while preserving the linking numbers. We also describe the above dualities in terms of wrapping D6 branes around 3-cycles of Calabi-Yau threefolds in type IIA string theory. The theory with adjoint matter can be regarded as taking multiple copies of NS5 brane in the configuration of brane or geometric approaches.     

Thick brane in 7D and 8D spacetimes

We consider a thick brane model using two interacting scalar fields in 7D and 8D gravity. Using a special choice of potential energy, we obtain numerically regular asymptotically flat vacuum solutions. The possibility of obtaining the similar solutions for an arbitrary number of extra spatial dimensions is being estimated.     

Confront holographic QCD with Regge trajectories of vectors and axial-vectors

By matching the predictions of the Dp–Dq soft-wall model in type II superstring theory with the spectra of vector and axial-vector mesons, we show the dependence of the Regge trajectories parameters on the metric parameters of the model. From the experimental results of Regge parameters for vector mesons, it is found that the D3 background brane with both q=5 and q=7 probe brane and D4 background brane with q=4 probe brane are close to the realistic holographic QCD. We also discuss how to realize chiral symmetry breaking in the vacuum and asymptotic chiral symmetry restoration in high excitation states. We find that the constant component of the 5-dimension mass square of axial-vector mesons plays an efficient role to realize the chiral symmetry breaking, and a small negative z ⁴ correction in the 5-dimension mass square is helpful to realize the chiral symmetry restoration in high excitation states.     

Worldsheet instantons and a null string limit of Born–Infeld theory

For a superstring theory in four spacetime dimensions, we propose a modification of the Born–Infeld action that possesses a well-defined tensionless limit. We interpret this as describing the effective target space dynamics of null strings on a D3-brane. We argue that such a modification can be induced by nonperturbative contributions from instantons in the worldsheet σ-model describing string propagation on the brane.     

Dark energy and particle mixing

We show that at the present epoch, contributions to the vacuum energy compatible with the evaluated upper bound on the dark energy come from vacuum condensates due to neutrino and quark mixing with adiabatic index close to −1.     

5D non-symmetric gravity and geodesic confinement

This work focuses on an unexplored aspect of non-symmetric geometry where only the off-diagonal metric components along the extra dimension, in a 5-dimensional spacetime, are non-symmetric. We show that the energy densities of the stationary non-symmetric models are similar to that of brane models thereby mimicking the thick-brane scenario. We find that the massive test particles are confined near the location of the brane for both growing and decaying warp factors. This feature is unique to the non-symmetric nature of our model. We have also studied the dynamical models where standard 4D FLRW brane is embedded. Our analysis shows that the non-symmetric terms deconfine energy density at the early universe while automatically confine at late times.     

4D gravity on a BPS brane in 5D AdS-Minkowski space

We calculate small correction terms to gravitational potential near an asymmetric BPS brane embedded in a 5D AdS-Minkowski space in the context of supergravity. The normalizable wave functions of gravity fluctuations around the brane describe only massive modes. We compute such wave functions analytically in the thin wall limit. We estimate the correction to gravitational potential for small and long distances, and show that there is an intermediate range of distances in which we can identify 4D gravity on the brane below a crossover scale. The 4D gravity is metastable and for distances much larger than the crossover scale the 5D gravity is recovered.     

Phantom Divide Crossing on Brane World

We study the RSII brane world corrected by the four-dimensional scalar curvature and five-dimensional Gauss-Bonnet curvature. The energy transfer between brane and bulk is also taken into account. Parameterizing the energy transfer, the resulting Friedmann equation on brane is solved at low energy. It is shown that phantom divide crossing may be achieved in the braneworld model with wide possibilities, embodying the combined effect of brane-bulk energy transfer, curvature corrections, and the fine-turning mechanics.     

D3+D6 solution and D4+D6 solution

We make the supergravity solutions describing the branes (D3 branes and D4 branes) localized within the D6 branes in the near core region of D6 brane. From the D=11 solutions (M3 branes and M4 branes with the Z_N identifications in the transverse space) we obtain the D=10 supergravity solutions of D3 branes localized within D6 branes and D4 branes localized within D6 branes by reducing the dimension down to D=10 along a circular direction of S³ part of the transverse space. M3 brane solution leads to D=10 background representing D3 branes localized on D6 branes in the region close to the D6 branes core. M4 branes lead to the D4 branes localized on D6 branes in the region close to the D6 brane core.     

A braneworld universe from colliding bubbles

Much work has been devoted to the phenomenology and cosmology of the so-called braneworld universe, where the (3+1)-dimensional universe familiar to us lies on a brane surrounded by a (4+1)-dimensional bulk spacetime that is essentially empty except for a negative cosmological constant and the various modes associated with gravity. For such a braneworld cosmology, the difficulty of justifying a set of preferred initial conditions inevitably arises. The various proposals for inflation restricted to the brane only partially explain the homogeneity and isotropy of the resulting braneworld universe because the three-dimensional homogeneity and isotropy of the bulk must be assumed a priori. In this Letter we propose a mechanism by which a brane surrounded by AdS space arises naturally in such a way that the homogeneity and isotropy of both the brane and the bulk are guaranteed. We postulate an initial false vacuum phase of (4+1)-dimensional de Sitter, or possibly Minkowski, space subsequently decaying to a true vacuum of anti-de Sitter space, assumed discretely degenerate. This decay takes place through bubble nucleation. When two bubbles of the true AdS vacuum eventually collide, because of the degeneracy of the true AdS vacuum, a brane (or domain wall) inevitably forms separating the two AdS phases. It is on this brane that we live. The SO(3,1) symmetry of the collision geometry ensures the three-dimensional spatial homogeneity and isotropy of the universe on the brane as well as of the bulk. In the semi-classical (→0) limit, this SO(3,1) symmetry is exact. We sketch how the leading quantum corrections translate into cosmological perturbations.     

Radiative Energy Shifts of an Atom Coupled to the Derivative of a Scalar Field near a Reflecting Boundary

We study the radiative energy level shifts of a two-level atom in dipole coupling to the derivative of a massless scalar quantum field in a spacetime with a perfectly reflecting boundary, and calculate the contributions of vacuum fluctuations and radiation reaction to the level shift. It is found that the energy level shift of the excited state is an oscillating function of the atom＇s distance from the boundary and it can either be positive or negative, while that of the ground state is always positive. The most remarkable feature is that the energy level shift of the ground state behaves like 1/z^4 when the atom＇s distance from the boundary, z, is very large as compared to the transition wavelength of the atom, while it behaves like 1/z^3 when z is very small     

False vacuum decay in a brane world cosmological model

The false vacuum decay in a brane world model is studied in this work. We investigate the vacuum decay via the Coleman-de Luccia instanton, derive explicit approximative expressions for the Coleman-de Luccia instanton which is close to a Hawking-Moss instanton and compare the results with those already obtained within Einstein's theory of relativity.