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arXiv · hep-th/9805167

Open inflation from non-singular instantons: Wrapping the universe with a membrane

Raphael Bousso·Andrew Chamblin
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Abstract

The four-form field recently considered by Hawking and Turok couples naturally to a charged membrane, across which the effective cosmological constant has a discontinuity. We present instantons for the creation of an open inflationary universe surrounded by a membrane. They can also be used to describe the nucleation of a membrane on a pre-existing inflationary background. This process typically decreases the value of the effective cosmological constant and may lead to a novel scenario of eternal inflation. Moreover, by coupling the inflaton field to the membrane, the troublesome singularities which arise in the Hawking-Turok model can be eliminated.

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Raphael Bousso, Andrew Chamblin. 1998-05-25. Open inflation from non-singular instantons: Wrapping the universe with a membrane. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.59.063504

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