Instant Folded Strings, Dark Energy and a Cyclic Bouncing Universe
Nissan Itzhaki, Uri Peleg, Paul J. Steinhardt

TL;DR
This paper proposes a self-consistent cyclic bouncing universe model based on string theory, featuring instant folded strings that enable bounces and dark energy phases, avoiding singularities and multiverse issues of inflation.
Contribution
It introduces instant folded strings within a string-theoretic cyclic cosmology, providing a novel mechanism for bounces and dark energy without singularities or multiverse problems.
Findings
Eliminates cosmic singularity and multiverse issues.
Predicts time-varying dark energy from instant folded strings.
No primordial B-mode polarization in CMB.
Abstract
We present a wholly self-consistent, complete cyclic bouncing cosmology based on components drawn from string theory and constructed in a way that is under perturbative control throughout (e.g., with temperature much less than the string scale and string coupling at all times). The cyclic evolution is governed by standard dilaton-gravity in -dimensions with a perturbatively generated potential and a coupling between the dilaton and a second field that becomes massless at , resulting in an enhanced symmetry point (ESP) that prevents the dilaton from running all the way to zero coupling. A central role is played by instant folded strings (IFSs) - fundamental strings with the unusual property of being much lighter than the string mass while extending far beyond the string length, and violating the Null Energy Condition (NEC). IFSs are produced…
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