A Matrix Big Bang
Ben Craps, Savdeep Sethi, Erik Verlinde

TL;DR
This paper models a big bang-like singularity in string theory using a light-like linear dilaton background and constructs a dual Matrix theory description, offering insights into the physics of such singularities.
Contribution
It introduces a Matrix theory framework for a time-dependent background with a big bang singularity, advancing understanding of singularities in string/M-theory.
Findings
The background is a simple time-dependent 1/2 BPS solution in type IIA superstring theory.
The dual Matrix theory is a (1+1)-d supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on a Milne orbifold.
The model suggests the physics near the singularity can be effectively analyzed.
Abstract
The light-like linear dilaton background represents a particularly simple time-dependent 1/2 BPS solution of critical type IIA superstring theory in ten dimensions. Its lift to M-theory, as well as its Einstein frame metric, are singular in the sense that the geometry is geodesically incomplete and the Riemann tensor diverges along a light-like subspace of codimension one. We study this background as a model for a big bang type singularity in string theory/M-theory. We construct the dual Matrix theory description in terms of a (1+1)-d supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on a time-dependent world-sheet given by the Milne orbifold of (1+1)-d Minkowski space. Our model provides a framework in which the physics of the singularity appears to be under control.
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