The Universe Before the Big Bang: Cosmology and String Theory (Astronomers’ Universe) 2008th Edition by Maurizio Gasperini (PDF)

Description

Terms such as “expanding Universe”, “big bang”, and “initial singularity”, are nowadays part of our common language. The idea that the Universe we observe today originated from an enormous explosion (big bang) is now well known and widely accepted, at all levels, in modern popular culture. But what happens to the Universe before the big bang? And would it make any sense at all to ask such a question? In fact, recent progress in theoretical physics, and in particular in String Theory, suggests answers to the above questions, providing us with mathematical tools able in principle to reconstruct the history of the Universe even for times before the big bang.In the emerging cosmological scenario the Universe, at the epoch of the big bang, instead of being a “new born baby” was actually a rather “aged” creature in the middle of its possibly infinitely enduring evolution. The aim of this book is to convey this picture in non-technical language accessibile also to non-specialists. The author, himself a leading cosmologist, draws attention to ongoing and future observations that might reveal relics of an era before the big bang.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐New cosmological solutions (models for the Universe that were not contemplated by general relativity) are suggested by physicist Gabriele Veneziano in collaboration with the author. Therefore, just to simplify, we read the Big Bang took place, but it did not involved a moment of infinite density, and inflation took place before not after Big Bang. Such conclusion can be obtained by quantum loop approach. But here we have the hazarded guesses by using symmetries of quantum strings – time did not have a a beginning and will not have an end. Such scenario is called “symmetry of time reversal” where dilation field plays the role. Mentioned is as well “ekpyriotic” model based on strings (for details check excellent: “Endless Universe” by Steinhardt and Turok where they did much better job explaining riddles of standard inflationary model vs. string models).Fascinating topics indeed. Unfortunately I tend to agree with the first reviewer (quote): “this is not a book written in non-technical language as the publisher claims”. It is more than popular dissertation being closer to scientific presentation, where just a few plottings and illustrations are difficult to understand. I often struggled reading verbal descriptions of math equations (for example: “An expansion of the partition function in a series of higher-genus world sheets thus becomes an expansion in powers of the exponential of the dilation, exp Æ”). I would clearly prefer math formulas (when not too complicated) rather than “textural” approach. Author chose rather cumbersome way to explain differences between Einstein’s and string geometry describing and picturing evolution of the spacial radius R and horizon radius c/H for a model of Universe (nothing to mention that concepts of both: spacial and horizon radius, are hard to grasp). Same relates to graphs picturing frequency and energy density of gravitational background radiation, where log scale is introduced, but text refers to straight numbers – confusing for inexperienced reader. Lack of glossary of terms is hugely disappointing. Buy this book only if you are a die-hard cosmology follower. Otherwise I strongly recommend easier, greatly illustrated (in colors) and compact article from Scientific American magazine: “Was the big bang really the beginning of time?” by Gabriele Veneziano.Anyway, lots depends on Planck space mission. It may or may not confirm/reject quantum string models, even wraparound models. Time will tell.

⭐Books that dumb down have a short half-life?The author can do better as his book “Theory of Gravitational Interaction:s shows.I tend to read this sort of book from the index: looking for newinformation and sources. I also notice what is left out: Weeks, Thurston,3 manifolds, Seifert surface,Weyl gauge, phase rule,Euler characteristic,Calibi-Yau surfaces,Minimal surfaces,Null Ricci, Higgs Boson, and Mexican hat potential.On the other column are the nice diagrams and the analysisof Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions.He also thinks that Brans-Dicke scalar gravitational theory isimportant to string theory which makes him one up on most D-brane books.My experience with authors like this one is theywrote the book for money aloneand they aren’t interested in the commentsof anybody stupid enough to buy it.Some of these authors actually want to teach.The cosmic microwave background anisotropy explanation as axiomicin origin seem a stretch: I lean toward a multiple gauge bosonfrom a 3 manifold minimal vacuum field connected to a 3^3 Picard groupsymmetry breaking. Axions are Hawking’s fun math toy for the earlyuniverse and probably so much Wimp vapor as was his end of sciencewhich it appears now he didn’t believe in.What this author excels in is duality theory in the early universeand probably wrote the book to make his ideas more popular.He is weak on the connection of knot and link 3 manifold theoryto higher dimensional string theory and the connection ofNeumann boundaries to Calibi-Yau surfaces.

⭐This is a fascinating book showing the possibility that the Big Bang looses “its rather mystical role as the beginning of everything, to become a more modest beginning of the current phase of the Universe “, as the author claims in the Conclusion.With an introduction to String Theory, its duality symmetry and its dilation field, Gasperini portrays a pre Big Bang scenario which avoids the singularity of the Big Bang. Although this is a mathematical theory, it could be sustained experimentally in the next 20 years when better gravitational wave devices (the interferometer formed by three LISA satellites in an equilateral triangle with a side of 5 million km, for example) are constructed, as the spectrum of a cosmic background of gravitons predicted by this theory is different from the classical inflationary theories. Other possible experimental verifications are discussed, among them the author claims that the still unknown seed of the cosmological magnetic fields could be explained with his theory. A further possibility is that the dilation field is a plausible candidate to explain dark energy.However, this is not a book written in non-technical language as the publisher claims. You probably need at least a degree in physics to follow most of its arguments. This is the reason I rate it only with three stars.

⭐El tema central del libro lo componen unas series de artículos que el autor dio en charlas y conferencias, de muy diversa índole, desde cosmología estándar, teoría de cuerdas, inflación, etc. La sensación es de una pequeña falta de cohesión en el hilo argumental. Aunque carece de apoyo matemático, el texto es conciso y es necesario un conocimiento inicial en física para comprenderlo.Aunque el título del libro hace referencia a una situación anterior al big bang, las teorías descritas se ciñen a momentos después donde el universo estaría en una situación multidimensional compacta lleno de un muy denso gas de cuerdas. Para indagar en posibles consecuencias fenoménicas del pre big bang, tendríamos que ir a una posible radiación de fondo de origen gravitacional, etc. A destacar las finales reflexiones personales del autor. Interesante

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