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arXiv · hep-th/0611259

Colliding Branes in Heterotic M-theory

Jean-Luc Lehners·Paul McFadden·Neil Turok
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Abstract

We study the collision of two flat, parallel end-of-the-world branes in heterotic M-theory. By insisting that there is no divergence in the Riemann curvature as the collision approaches, we are able to single out a unique solution possessing the local geometry of (2d compactified Milne)/Z_2 x R_3, times a finite-volume Calabi-Yau manifold in the vicinity of the collision. At a finite time before and after the collision, a second type of singularity appears momentarily on the negative-tension brane, representing its bouncing off a zero of the bulk warp factor. We find this singularity to be remarkably mild and easily regularised. The various different cosmological solutions to heterotic M-theory previously found by other authors are shown to merely represent different portions of a unique flat cosmological solution to heterotic M-theory.

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Jean-Luc Lehners, Paul McFadden, Neil Turok. 2007-02-12. Colliding Branes in Heterotic M-theory. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.75.103510

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