An Entropy-Weighted Sum over Non-Perturbative Vacua

Abstract

We discuss how, in a Universe restricted to the causal region connected to the observer, General Relativity implies the quantum nature of physical phenomena and directly leads to a string theory scenario, whose dynamics is ruled by a functional that weights all configurations according to their entropy. The most favoured configurations are those of minimal entropy. Along this class of vacua a four-dimensional space-time is automatically selected; when, at large volume, a description of space-time in terms of classical geometry can be recovered, the entropy-weighted sum reduces to the ordinary Feynman's path integral. What arises is a highly predictive scenario, phenomenologically compatible with the experimental observations and measurements, in which everything is determined in terms of the fundamental constants and the age of the Universe, with no room for freely-adjustable parameters. We discuss how this leads to the known spectrum of particles and interactions. Besides the computation of masses and couplings, CKM matrix elements, cosmological constant, expansion parameters of the Universe etc..., all resulting, within the degree of the approximation we used, in agreement with the experimental observations, we also discuss how this scenario passes the tests provided by cosmology and the constraints imposed by the physics of the primordial Universe.

LaTex, 198 pages, 23 figures. Version 2: added comments and references, corrected typos and errors

References in corpus (50)

• Measurements of Omega and Lambda from 42 High-Redshift Supernovae
• A direct empirical proof of the existence of dark matter
• Eleven-Dimensional Supergravity on a Manifold with Boundary
• Further Evidence for Cosmological Evolution of the Fine Structure Constant
• Black Hole Entropy in Canonical Quantum Gravity and Superstring Theory
• Consistency Conditions for Orientifolds and D-Manifolds
• The Anthropic Landscape of String Theory
• Calibrator Design for the COBE Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS)
• Exact Results for N=2 Compactifications of Heterotic Strings
• Algebras, BPS States, and Strings
• The Oklo bound on the time variation of the fine-structure constant revisited
• Possible evidence for a variable fine structure constant from QSO absorption lines: motivations, analysis and results
• Calculations of the Relativistic Effects in Many-Electron Atoms and Space-Time Variation of Fundamental Constants
• Black Hole Entropy and Entropy of Entanglement
• K3 Orientifolds
• A measurement of Omega from the North American test flight of BOOMERANG
• The Cosmological Evolution of the Nucleon Mass and the Electroweak Coupling Constants
• Moduli Corrections to Gauge and Gravitational Couplings in four dimensional Superstrings
• Comments on Open-String Orbifolds with a Non-Vanishing B_{ab}
• A D=4 N=1 Orbifold of Type I Strings
• Moduli Corrections to Gravitational Couplings from String loops
• Infrared Regularization of Superstring Theory and the One-Loop Calculation of Coupling Constants
• Computational complexity of the landscape I
• Basic results in Vacuum Statistics
• Partial breaking of supersymmetry, open strings and M-theory
• Symmetry Breaking and Time Variation of Gauge Couplings
• Fivebrane Instantons and $R^2$ couplings in $N=4$ String Theory
• Chiral family classification of fermionic Z2xZ2 heterotic orbifold models
• Statistical analysis of the supersymmetry breaking scale
• Classification of the chiral Z2XZ2 fermionic models in the heterotic superstring
• Universality properties of N=2 and N=1 Heterotic threshold corrections
• Limits on Cosmological Variation of Strong Interaction and Quark Masses from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, Cosmic, Laboratory and Oklo Data
• Heterotic/Type II Triality and Instantons on $K_3$
• Exact Gravitational Threshold Correction in the FHSV Model
• Non-perturbative Temperature Instabilities in N=4 Strings
• String Threshold corrections in models with spontaneously broken supersymmetry
• Solving the Decompactification Problem in String Theory
• Classification of the N=2, Z2 X Z2-symmetric type II orbifolds and their type II asymmetric duals
• To be or not to be? Magnetic monopoles in non-abelian gauge theories
• Heterotic/Heterotic Duality in D=6,4
• Non-perturbative triality in heterotic and type II N=2 strings
• Four-Dimensional N=2 Superstring Constructions and their (Non-) Perturbative Duality Connections
• Non-Perturbative Gravitational Corrections in a Class of N=2 String Duals
• Entropy, String Theory, and our World
• String-String triality for d=4, Z_2 orbifolds
• About combinatorics, and observables
• Spin foams, causal links and geometry-induced interactions
• On the Time Dependence of Fundamental Constants
• Naturally Time Dependent Cosmological Constant
• On a Time Dependent Cosmological Constant

Cited by in corpus (10)

• On the critical temperatures of superconductors: a quantum gravity approach
• About combinatorics, and observables
• A note on the phases of natural evolution
• Relativity as classical limit in a combinatorial scenario
• Combinatorics, observables, and String Theory: part II
• Is the Universe the only existing Black Hole?
• A physical universe from the universe of codes
• Combinatorics, observables, and String Theory
• The superstring representation of the universe of codes
• Beyond Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity