Surface tension and the cosmological constant

Samuel, J.; Sinha, Supurna

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2289/1487

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DC Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Samuel, J.	-
dc.contributor.author	Sinha, Supurna	-
dc.date.accessioned	2006-10-19T04:46:38Z	-
dc.date.available	2006-10-19T04:46:38Z	-
dc.date.issued	2006-10	-
dc.identifier.citation	Physical Review Letters, 2006, Vol.97, p161302	en
dc.identifier.issn	0031-9007	-
dc.identifier.issn	1079-7114 (online)	-
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/2289/1487	-
dc.description.abstract	One of the few predictions from quantum gravity models is Sorkin's observation that the cosmological constant has quantum fluctuations originating in the fundamental discreteness of spacetime at the Planck scale. Here we present a compelling analogy between the cosmological constant of the Universe and the surface tension of fluid membranes. The discreteness of spacetime on the Planck scale translates into the discrete molecular structure of a fluid membrane. We propose an analog quantum gravity experiment which realizes Sorkin's idea in the laboratory. We also notice that the analogy sheds light on the cosmological constant problem, suggesting a mechanism for dynamically generating a vanishingly small cosmological constant. We emphasize the generality of Sorkin's idea and suggest that similar effects occur generically in quantum gravity models.	en
dc.format.extent	97412 bytes	-
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	-
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	The American Physical Society	en
dc.relation.uri	http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v97/e161302	en
dc.rights	(2006) by the American Physical Society	en
dc.title	Surface tension and the cosmological constant	en
dc.type	Article	en
Appears in Collections:	Research Papers (TP)

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