Defects in Four-Dimensional Continua: A Paradigm for the Expansion of the Universe?

TL;DR

This paper explores how defects in four-dimensional continua can model gravitational fields and potentially explain the universe's expansion, extending defect theory to space-time with implications for cosmology.

Contribution

It generalizes defect theory to four-dimensional space-time and applies it to model the universe's expansion and the Big Bang.

Findings

Defects induce non-trivial metric tensors in space-time.

Application of defect theory to cosmological expansion.

Potential explanation for the Big Bang through space-time defects.

Abstract

The presence of defects in material continua is known to produce internal permanent strained states. Extending the theory of defects to four dimensions and allowing for the appropriate signature, it is possible to apply these concepts to space-time. In this case a defect would induce a non-trivial metric tensor, which can be interpreted as a gravitational field. The image of a defect in space-time can be applied to the description of the Big Bang. A review of the four-dimensional generalisation of defects and an application to the expansion of the universe will be presented.