Abstract
We propose that the state of the Universe does not spontaneously violate . Instead, the Universe after the big bang is the image of the Universe before it, both classically and quantum mechanically. The pre- and postbang epochs comprise a universe-antiuniverse pair, emerging from nothing directly into a hot, radiation-dominated era. symmetry selects a unique QFT vacuum state on such a spacetime, providing a new interpretation of the cosmological baryon asymmetry, as well as a remarkably economical explanation for the cosmological dark matter. Requiring only the standard three-generation model of particle physics (with right-handed neutrinos), a symmetry suffices to render one of the right-handed neutrinos stable. We calculate its abundance from first principles: matching the observed dark matter density requires its mass to be . Several other testable predictions follow: (i) the three light neutrinos are Majorana particles and allow neutrinoless double decay; (ii) the lightest neutrino is massless; and (iii) there are no primordial long-wavelength gravitational waves. We mention connections to the strong problem and the arrow of time.
- Received 13 April 2018
- Revised 7 November 2018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.251301
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.
Published by the American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Synopsis
Universe Preceded by an Antiuniverse?
Published 20 December 2018
A new cosmology model suggests that our Universe has a mirror image in the form of an “antiuniverse” that existed before the big bang.
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