# References

EDO-EP-28

August, 1999

Mass Hierarchy from Many Domain Walls

Ichiro Oda <sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1 E-mail address: ioda@edogawa-u.ac.jp. 

Edogawa University, 474 Komaki, Nagareyama City, Chiba 270-0198, JAPAN

## Abstract

We construct a new model with exponential mass hierarchy by starting with the Einstein-Hilbert action with the cosmological constant in five dimensions plus an action describing many domain walls in four dimensions. The model includes many hidden sectors and one visible sector, and each four-dimensional domain wall, that is, 3-brane, interacts with one another through only a gravitational interaction and realizes many universe cosmology inspired by D-brane perspective. It is shown that in the present model only even numbers of domain walls are allowed to locate in five dimensional space-time and the validity of Randall-Sundrum scenario, which explains mass hierarchy between the Planck mass and the electro-weak scale in our world, depends on a relative relation between our world and hidden worlds.

Recently, there has been considerable interest and activity in the higher dimensional theories to solve the hierarchy problem. It is well known that in the Standard Model based on the gauge group $`SU(3)\times SU(2)\times U(1)`$ there exist two scales, those are, the electro-weak scale $`m_{EW}10^3`$ GeV and the Planck scale $`M_{Pl}10^{19}`$ GeV. The hierarchy problem is a problem concerning the two mass scales. The light Higgs mass $`m_{EW}10^3`$ GeV is needed in the Standard Model, but the quadratic divergences at the loop levels and the renormalization effects associated with the light Higgs field cause this electro-weak mass to have the very huge Planck mass $`M_{Pl}10^{19}`$ GeV, which corresponds to the cut-off scale of the ultra-violet divergences. Thus, solving the hierarchy problem is equivalent to explaining the vast disparity and quantum stability of the two scales without any fine tuning of parameters at each perturbation level.

In recent works, it has been pointed out that the existence of large extra compact spatial dimensions might give us a solution for the hierarchy problem . The key idea is the following: in the simple case, the four-dimensional Planck scale $`M_{Pl}`$ and the $`(4+n)`$-dimensional Planck scale $`M_{}`$ have a relation $`M_{Pl}^2=M_{}^{n+2}R_c^n`$ where $`R_c`$ is a compactification radius. Even if $`M_{}`$ is around the order of the electro-weak scale, $`M_{Pl}`$ can become the Planck scale by taking $`R_c`$ to be large enough. But against this naive expectation, it was found that in this scenario the mass hierarchy is merely converted into another hierarchy problem between the electro-weak scale and the compactification radius.

Subsequently, a new scenario has been proposed for the hierarchy problem without appealing to large extra compactification dimensions . According to this new scenario, the large hierarchy of the Planck scale and the electro-weak scale is explained by the nontrivial redshift factor arisinging from the boundary condition where an extra dimension has a structure of an orbifold $`S^1/Z_2`$. The model used in the analysis is obtained by M-theory compactified on an $`S^1/Z_2`$ and a deformed Calabi-Yau threefold  and has been examined in detail by several groups .

The above model  describes our world as one of four-dimensional two slabs in five-dimensional space-time while the other slab is regarded as a hidden world which interacts with our world by a gravitational interaction. Although the model is quite of interest from the perspective of M-theory as mentioned above, it might be possible to construct a new model based on the idea of D-branes  where an arbitrary number of paralell D-branes are located at various places in the fifth dimensional direction in the bulk and interact with one another by a gravitational force. Indeed, such a model also appears to be welcome from cosmology since in modern cosmology our universe (visible 3-brane) is conjectured to be not a unique and selected universe but have been created with other many universes (hidden 3-branes) simultaneously on an equal footing in the big bang era. Thus it is interesting to construct a new model with one visible world and many hidden worlds and ask how mass hierarchy (and cosmological constant) problem is resolved. The purpose of this paper is to pursue this line of thoughts, present such a concrete model and then show that the validity of a scenario proposed by Randall-Sundrum  explaining mass hierarchy depends on a relative relation between our world and hidden worlds. As a bonus, it turns out that one disadvantage of the previous model, the necessity for a singular orbifold geometry , will disappear in the present model since the existence of solutions of the Einstein equation demands us to choose a smooth manifold $`S^1`$ in place of a singular orbifold geometry $`S^1/Z_2`$ when there are more than two branes in a theory.

We start with the Einstein-Hilbert action with the cosmological constant in five dimensions plus an action describing $`n`$ domain walls in four dimensions :

$`S={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\kappa ^2}}{\displaystyle d^4x_0^{2L}𝑑z\sqrt{g}\left(R+2\mathrm{\Lambda }\right)}+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}}{\displaystyle _{z=L_i}}d^4x\sqrt{g_i}_i,`$ (1)   
where the cosmological constant $`\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ is taken to a positive number, which implies that the geometry of five-dimensional bulk is anti-de Sitter space-time. (Note that we have changed the sign in front of the cosmological constant compared to a conventional choice so the positive cosmological constant corresponds to the anti-de Sitter space-time.) The fifth dimension $`z`$ is compact with the size $`2L`$. Moreover, $`\kappa `$ denotes the five-dimensional gravitational constant with a relation $`\kappa ^2=8\pi G_N=\frac{8\pi }{M_{}^2}`$ where $`G_N`$ and $`M_{}`$ are the five-dimensional Newton constant and the five-dimensional Planck scale, respectively. In this article we follow the standard conventions of the textbook of Misner, Thorne and Wheeler . It is edifying to mention two differences between our starting action and that of previous works . An obvious difference is that we have introduced not two domain walls but $`n`$ many domain walls located at $`L_i`$ in the $`z`$ direction.<sup>2</sup><sup>2</sup>2In recent work , many branes are also considered from a different context. (Precisely speaking, all $`z=L_i`$ are not always occupied by domain walls. As shown later, the Einstein equation fixes locations of domain walls completely.) Another important difference lies in the fact that in the previous M-theory model  the two domain walls are located at the boundaries which are the fixed points of an orbifold $`S^1/Z_2`$, whereas in the present D-brane model the fifth dimension has a topology of $`S^1`$ so that various domain walls are not located at the boundary.

Variation of the action (1) with respect to the five-dimensional metric tensor leads to the Einstein equation:

$`\sqrt{g}\left(R^{MN}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}g^{MN}R\right)=\sqrt{g}g^{MN}\mathrm{\Lambda }+\kappa ^2{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}}\sqrt{g_i}g_i^{\mu \nu }\delta _\mu ^M\delta _\nu ^N_i\delta (zL_i),`$ (2)   
where $`M,N,\mathrm{}`$ denote five-dimensional indices, whereas $`\mu ,\nu ,\mathrm{}`$ do four-dimensional ones. In deriving this equation, we have neglected the contributions from the Lagrangians $`_i`$ of domain walls. In other words, the domain wall actions play a role as sources only providing the cosmological constant in the bulk.

In order to solve the equation (2) in an analytical way, we require the following metric ansatz in such a way that the red-shift factor and expanding universe are taken into account:

$`ds^2`$ $`=`$ $`g_{MN}dx^Mdx^N`$ (3)   
$`=`$ $`u(z)^2\left(dt^2+v(t)^2d\stackrel{}{x}^2\right)+b(z)^2dz^2,`$   
where $`\stackrel{}{x}`$ denotes the three-dimensional spatial coordinates. Under the ansatz (3), the Einstein equation (2) reduces to three combined differential equations:

$`6\left({\displaystyle \frac{u^{}}{u}}\right)^23\left({\displaystyle \frac{b}{u}}\right)^2\left[{\displaystyle \frac{\ddot{v}}{v}}+\left({\displaystyle \frac{\dot{v}}{v}}\right)^2\right]=b^2\mathrm{\Lambda },`$ (4)   
$`3\left[{\displaystyle \frac{u^{\prime \prime }}{u}}+\left({\displaystyle \frac{u^{}}{u}}\right)^2\right]3{\displaystyle \frac{b^{}}{b}}{\displaystyle \frac{u^{}}{u}}3\left({\displaystyle \frac{b}{u}}\right)^2\left({\displaystyle \frac{\dot{v}}{v}}\right)^2=b^2\mathrm{\Lambda }+\kappa ^2b{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}}_i\delta (zL_i),`$ (5)   
$`3\left[{\displaystyle \frac{u^{\prime \prime }}{u}}+\left({\displaystyle \frac{u^{}}{u}}\right)^2\right]3{\displaystyle \frac{b^{}}{b}}{\displaystyle \frac{u^{}}{u}}\left({\displaystyle \frac{b}{u}}\right)^2\left[2{\displaystyle \frac{\ddot{v}}{v}}+\left({\displaystyle \frac{\dot{v}}{v}}\right)^2\right]=b^2\mathrm{\Lambda }+\kappa ^2b{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}}_i\delta (zL_i),`$ (6)   
where the prime and the dot denote a differentiation with respect to $`z`$ and $`t`$, respectively.

Now from Eqs. (5), (6), it is straightforward to derive the equation for variable $`v`$

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\ddot{v}}{v}}=\left({\displaystyle \frac{\dot{v}}{v}}\right)^2,`$ (7)   
which can be integrated to 

$`v(t)=v(0)e^{Ht},`$ (8)   
where $`H`$ denotes the Hubble constant of expanding universe . The implications of the present model to cosmology will be examined in a separate paper  so we shall take $`v(t)=1`$ from now on in order to focus our attention on mass hierarchy. Moreover, we set $`b(t)=r_c`$ where $`r_c`$ is a constant.

Under the simplified ansatz $`v(t)=1`$ and $`b(t)=r_c`$, Eqs.(4), (5) (or (6)) take rather simple forms

$`\left({\displaystyle \frac{u^{}}{u}}\right)^2=k^2r_c^2,`$ (9)   
$`{\displaystyle \frac{u^{\prime \prime }}{u}}=k^2r_c^2+{\displaystyle \frac{\kappa ^2}{3}}r_c{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n}{}}}_i\delta (zL_i),`$ (10)   
where we have defined 

$`k=\sqrt{{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{6}}}.`$ (11)   
Now we wish to find a solution which satisfies the above Einstein equations (9), (10). However, it seems to be difficult to find a general solution, so instead we aim to find some special solutions closely relating to a model with exponential mass hierarchy, whose concrete expression is given by

$`u(z)=e^{kr_cf(z)},`$ (12)   
where $`f(z)`$ is a certain function of variable $`z`$ to be determined in what follows. The most effective and easiest way of determining the function $`f(z)`$ is to construct it in a direct manner according to the following procedure. First, divide the region $`0<z<2L`$ into $`(n1)`$ small pieces $`L_i<z<L_{i+1}(i=1,2,\mathrm{},n1)`$. Second, combine two adjacent pieces into one pair in order from $`L_1=0`$ or $`L_n=2L`$, from which we have $`\frac{n1}{2}`$ distinct pairs. (We assume that $`n`$ is an odd number for a while. This issue will be argued later.) Third, draw a piecewisely continuous straight line with a slope $`+1`$ or $`1`$ in each pair by turns. Finally, since the topology of the fifth dimension is a circle $`S^1`$ the two boundaries $`z=L_10`$ and $`z=L_n2L`$ are identified by setting the periodic boundary condition. Then except one point mentioned shortly, it is straightforward to show that the line obtained in this way satisfies the Einstein equations (9), (10) by using the Fourier series expansion.

Here one would like to discuss an important subtlety associated with the definition of $`\epsilon (0)`$. In showing that Eq.(12) with $`f(z)`$ obtained in the above procedure satisfies the Einstein equations (9), (10) one encounters the step function $`\epsilon (x)`$ defined as

$`\epsilon (x)={\displaystyle \frac{|x|}{x}}=\{\begin{array}{cc}+1,\hfill & \text{for }x>0\hfill \\ 1,\hfill & \text{for }x<0\hfill \end{array}.`$ (13)   
At some $`L_i`$ on which domain walls sit, we have an ambiguous quantity $`\epsilon (0)`$, for which we usually define as $`\epsilon (0)=0`$ or $`\epsilon (0)=1`$. The validity of the Einstein equation now requires us to choose $`\epsilon (0)=1`$. Thus at first sight we do not meet any inconsistency, but various results should not depend on such an ambiguous quantity. Indeed, in the situation at hand this quantity has a close connection with a physical fact, namely, the existence of singularities at the location of domain walls, so a careful treatment is needed. In this article, in order to avoid an ambiguous quantity $`\epsilon (0)`$, we wish to regularize our model in a such way that we introduce an infinitely small thickness $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ of domain walls and take a limit $`\mathrm{\Delta }0`$ after all calculations. Under this regularization, any ambiguity never occur.

Let us present two interesting solutions. These solutions describe even domain walls standing along $`S^1`$ at some intervals in five dimensional space-time. One solution is given by 

$`f(z)`$ $`=`$ $`|z|+{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\frac{n1}{2}}{}}}(1)^i|zL_{2i}|L,`$   
$`f^{}(z)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\frac{n1}{2}}{}}}(1)^i\epsilon (zL_{2i})+1,`$   
$`f^{\prime \prime }(z)`$ $`=`$ $`2{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{\frac{n1}{2}}{}}}(1)^i\delta (zL_{2i}),`$ (14)   
where $`L_i`$ satisfies the relations

$`L_{2i}={\displaystyle \frac{L_{2i1}+L_{2i+1}}{2}},L_1=0,L_n=2L,`$ (15)   
with $`i=1,2,\mathrm{},\frac{n1}{2}`$. Moreover, $`_i(i=1,2,\mathrm{},\frac{n1}{2})`$ must satisfy the relations

$`_{2i}=(1)^{i+1}{\displaystyle \frac{6k}{\kappa ^2r_c}}.`$ (16)   
This solution expresses $`\frac{n1}{2}`$ even domain walls locating at $`L_{2i}`$. In this paper, we would like to take account of one visible 3-brane and many hidden 3-branes more than or equal to 1 so $`n`$ runs over $`5,9,13,\mathrm{}`$.

Another interesting solution takes the form

$`f(z)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=2}{\overset{n1}{}}}(1)^{i+1}|zL_i|+L,`$   
$`f^{}(z)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n1}{}}}(1)^{i+1}\epsilon (zL_i)1,`$   
$`f^{\prime \prime }(z)`$ $`=`$ $`2{\displaystyle \underset{i=1}{\overset{n1}{}}}(1)^{i+1}\delta (zL_i),`$ (17)   
where $`L_i`$ also satisfies Eq.(15). This time, $`_i(i=1,2,\mathrm{},\frac{n1}{2})`$ must satisfy the relations

$`_1`$ $`=`$ $`_n={\displaystyle \frac{3k}{\kappa ^2r_c}},`$   
$`_{2i}`$ $`=`$ $`_{2j+1}={\displaystyle \frac{6k}{\kappa ^2r_c}},`$ (18)   
where $`0<j<i`$. Now the number of domain walls is an even number $`n1`$ ($`n`$ takes values $`3,5,7,\mathrm{}`$), and the domain walls are located at $`L_i(i=1,2,\mathrm{},n1)`$. At this stage, one might ask whether it is possible to find a solution with odd domain walls or not. The answer does not seem to be affirmative. The reason is that as in an orbifold geometry $`S^1/Z_2`$ , the solutions obtained in this paper have a characteristic feature that number of positive energy branes equals to number of negative energy branes, so the resulting solutions always include even domain walls.

Now let us turn to our main question. ”How is mass hierarchy problem resolved in our many universe model?” We will see that the answer is quite of interest and shows a peculiar feature of many universe model. First of all, let us consider the first model (14). In this model, domain walls are located at $`z=L_{2i}(i=1,2,\mathrm{},\frac{n1}{2})`$. Let us suppose that a visible 3-brane (our universe) is located at a certain $`z=L_{2i}`$, whereas the remaining 3-branes are hidden sectors (the other universes). We wish to measure mass scale in our world placed at $`z=L_{2i}`$ by mass scale in a hidden world placed at $`z=L_{2j}(ij)`$, to which we assume that the Planck mass is assigned. According to formulas given in , we can in general evaluate mass scale in our world by using Eqs.(12), (14):

$`m(L_{2i})`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{u(L_{2i})}{u(L_{2j})}}m(L_{2j})`$ (19)   
$`=`$ $`m(L_{2j})\mathrm{exp}\left\{kr_c\left[L_{2i}L_{2j}+{\displaystyle \underset{l=1}{\overset{\frac{n1}{2}}{}}}(1)^l\left(|L_{2i}L_{2l}||L_{2j}L_{2l}|\right)\right]\right\}.`$   
To compare the result (19) to that of , let us first recall the result of  and then see the implications of our result in the two specific cases. In the setup of Ref., there are two 3-branes with opposite sign of potential energy. For a 3-brane with positive potential energy, a natural scale for mass is assumed to be of order the Planck mass. If the Standard Model (our universe) is placed on another 3-brane with negative potential energy, the graviton amplitude is exponentially suppressed and exponential mass hierarchy is generated. To have this fact in mind, let us see what happens in our model. From the action (1) and (16), it turns out that 3-branes located at $`z=L_{4i2}`$ have negative brane energy while 3-branes at $`z=L_{4i}`$ have positive brane energy. Thus, for instance, let us calculate mass scale at $`z=L_2`$ from mass scale at $`z=L_4`$, for which we assume that the Planck mass is assigned. Note that this situation is similar to that of  as mentioned above. A simple calculation yields

$`m(L_2)=m(L_4)e^{kr_c(L_4L_2)}.`$ (20)   
This result means that exponential mass hierarchy also occurs in the present model as in . Note that this result is universal in the sense that the essential behavior of the result remains unchanged as long as our 3-brane has negative brane energy and the hidden 3-brane has positive brane energy even if a factor $`L_4L_2`$ in the exponential changes depending on which 3-branes we consider. An interesting feature of our model is the existence of many branes with negative and positive brane energy, so we are now led to ask how the result about mass hierarchy is modified when we take account of two 3-branes with same sign of brane energy. To be specific, let us consider a situation where we attempt to measure mass scale at $`z=L_2`$ from mass scale at $`z=L_6`$, of which both the 3-branes have negative brane energy. In this case the general result (19) reduces to

$`m(L_2)=m(L_6)e^{\frac{1}{2}kr_c(L_3+L_5L_7)},`$ (21)   
which implies that there is also exponential mass hierarchy if $`L_3+L_5>L_7`$. But if this inequality does not hold, then the Planck mass scale allocated in hidden sector is exponentially enhanced to the larger mass scale in our world. It is easy to check that the essential feature of this conclusion is also universal as far as two 3-branes with same sign of brane energy are concerned.

Next, let us focus on the second model (17). In this model, domain walls are located at $`z=L_i(i=1,2,\mathrm{},n1)`$. Again, a simple calculation gives us

$`m(L_i)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{u(L_i)}{u(L_j)}}m(L_j)`$ (22)   
$`=`$ $`m(L_j)\mathrm{exp}\left\{kr_c{\displaystyle \underset{l=2}{\overset{n1}{}}}(1)^{l+1}\left(|L_iL_l||L_jL_l|\right)\right\}.`$   
From the action (1) and (18), we see that 3-branes located at $`z=L_{2i}`$ have negative brane energy while 3-branes at $`z=L_{2i1}`$ have positive brane energy. Thus, as in the first model, for instance, let us calculate mass scale at $`z=L_2`$ from mass scale at $`z=L_1=0`$, for which we take the Planck mass. The result is of the form

$`m(L_2)=m(0)e^{kr_cL_2}.`$ (23)   
Indeed, this result is the same as in . (Recall that for comparison we have to set $`L_2`$ to $`\pi `$.) An interesting thing here is that this holds true even if there are many hidden sectors and the topology is a circle $`S^1`$ instead of an orbifold $`S^1/Z_2`$. Therefore, again we have exponential mass hierarchy even in the second model. Moreover, it is straightforward to show that even if we take account of two 3-branes with same sign of brane energy we have also exponential mass hierarchy if a suitable inequality holds like the first model. Finally, let us consider mass scale of branes at $`z=L_{2i1}`$. Since we have an equation $`u(L_{2i1})=1`$, the branes at these locations have special feature. Namely, if we attempt to evaluate mass scale at $`z=L_{2i1}`$ from mass scale at $`z=L_{2j1}`$ with $`ij`$, there is no mass hierarchy, in other words, $`m(L_{2i1})=m(L_{2j1})`$. However, this is an artifact of the model. In fact, we can modify the value of $`u(L_{2i1})`$ from one to a non-zero constant without violating the validity of the Einstein equation, so in such a situation we have exponential mass hierarcy as before.

To summarize, we have investigated a possibility of constructing a new model with an exponential mass hierarchy whose existence is inspired by the perspective of D-brane theory and many universe cosmology. In our model, the fifth dimension has a topology $`S^1`$ rather than a singular orbifold $`S^1/Z_2`$, which is one of advantages in our model. It was shown that even in the present model, we have the exponential mass hierarchy under an appropriate condition. However, there are many universes in the present model, perhaps our universe and the other many hidden universes, so there is $`a\mathrm{𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑟𝑖}`$ no way of determining which universe our universe is among many universes. Hence, the correct interpretation of our results is the following: mass scale in our universe depends on a relative distance relation along the fifth dimension between our universe and hidden universes. Maybe once God created many universes and gave the Planck scale to one (or some) universe(s) in the beginning of the big bang, mass scales in various universes are fixed by a relative relation among universes. According to this new scenario, each universe should have $`\mathrm{𝑛𝑜𝑡}`$ more than one $`\mathrm{𝑏𝑢𝑡}`$ exactly one low (or high) energy scale, and our world happens to have taken the electro-weak scale as such a low energy scale. Although we have so far presented only two types of solutions which satisfy the Einstein equation and have simple and manageable forms, we have also examined the other solutions in some detail . The conclusion is almost the same as in the present cases, so we think that the two solutions account for the essential features in our theory. One disadvantage of our model as well as the Randall-Sundrum original model  is the existence of 3-branes with negative potential energy. Recently, an alternative setup has been put forward where only positive energy objects are taken into account . We wish to investigate a possibility of generalizing our model to such a direction in future.

Acknowledgement

We are indebted to M. Tonin for stimulating discussions and continuous encouragement. We wish to thank Dipartimento Di Fisica, ”Galileo Galilei”, Universita Degli Studi Di Padova, for a kind hospitality, where most of parts of this work have been done.