M-theory cosmologies from singular Calabi-Yau compactifications

TL;DR

This paper investigates five-dimensional M-theory cosmologies with time-dependent Calabi-Yau compactifications undergoing flop transitions, revealing oscillating moduli and brief accelerated expansion phases influenced by transition dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of cosmological solutions incorporating flop transitions and scalar potentials from massless states, advancing understanding of moduli behavior in M-theory compactifications.

Findings

Moduli oscillate around the transition region instead of runaway behavior.

Solutions exhibit short periods of accelerated expansion.

Dynamics of massless states significantly influence cosmological evolution.

Abstract

We study five-dimensional Kasner cosmologies in a time-dependent Calabi-Yau compactification of M-theory undergoing a flop transition. The dynamics of the additional states, which become massless at the transition point and give rise to a scalar potential, are taken into account using a recently constructed gauged supergravity action. Due to the dynamics of these states the moduli do not show the usual run-away behavior but oscillate around the transition region. Moreover, the solutions typically exhibit short periods of accelerated expansion. We also analyze the interplay between the geometries of moduli space and space-time.