An Early Proposal of "Brane World"

TL;DR

This early proposal introduces the concept of our universe as a 3-brane embedded in higher dimensions, using vortex dynamics to localize space-time and induce gravity without compactification.

Contribution

It presents one of the first ideas of a brane world scenario, proposing a mechanism for localizing our universe in higher dimensions via vortex dynamics.

Findings

Localization of space-time on a 3-brane in higher dimensions

Induction of Einstein gravity from brane fluctuations

Alternative to compactification for extra dimensions

Abstract

Here we place the TeX-typeset version of the old preprint SMC-PHYS-66 (1982), which was published in K. Akama, "Pregeometry", in Lecture Notes in Physics, 176, Gauge Theory and Gravitation, Proceedings, Nara, 1982, edited by K. Kikkawa, N. Nakanishi and H. Nariai, (Springer-Verlag) 267--271. In the paper, we presented the picture that we live in a "brane world" (in the present-day terminology) i.e. in a dynamically localized 3-brane in a higher dimensional space. We adopt, as an example, the dynamics of the Nielsen-Olesen vortex type in six dimensional spacetime to localize our space-time within a 3-brane. At low energies, everything is trapped in the 3-brane, and the Einstein gravity is induced through the fluctuations of the 3-brane. The idea is important because it provides a way basically distinct from the "compactification" to hide the extra dimensions which become necessary for various theoretical reasons.