# References

SNUTP 98-119

hep-th/9811008   

Holographic Principle and String Cosmology <sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1 Work supported in part by KOSEF Interdisciplinary Research Grant and SRC-Program, KRF International Collaboration Grant, Ministry of Education Grant BSRI 98-2418 and 98-2425, UOS Academic Research Program, SNU Faculty Research Grant, and The Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies Faculty Fellowship.

Dongsu Bak<sup>1</sup> and Soo-Jong Rey<sup>2</sup>

Physics Department, University of Seoul, Seoul 130-743 KOREA<sup>1</sup>

Physics Department, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 KOREA<sup>2</sup>

dsbak@mach.uos.ac.kr, sjrey@gravity.snu.ac.kr

abstract

String cosmology is revisited from cosmological viewpoint of holographic principle put forward by ‘t Hooft, and by Fischler and Susskind. It is shown that the holography requires existence of a ‘graceful exit’ mechanism, which renders the Universe nonsingular by connecting pre- and post-big bang phases smoothly. It is proven that flat Universe is consistent with the holography only if it starts with an absolutely cold and vacuous state and particle entropy is produced during the ‘graceful exit’ period. Open Universe can always satisfy the holography no matter what initial state of the Universe is.

An emerging new paradigm in quantum gravity is the holographic principle, first put forward by ‘t Hooft  in the context of black hole physics and more recently extended by Susskind  to string theory. The principle demands that the degrees of freedom of a spatial region reside not in the bulk but only at the boundary of the region and that the number of degrees of freedom per Planck area is no greater than unity.

Actually, basic ingredients leading to the holographic behavior seem to be quite generic in any gravitational (or diffeomorphism invariant) system that the principle should be equally applicable to a cosmological context. In fact, recently, Fischler and Susskind  have put forward a cosmological version of the holographic principle: at any time during cosmological evolution, the gravitational entropy within a closed surface should be always larger than the particle entropy that passes through the past light-cone of that surface. Applied to the standard big-bang cosmology, Fischler and Susskind have found that only open or flat universe but not closed one is compatible with the cosmological holographic principle, provided one makes certain assumptions on the initial big-bang singularity.

In string theory, as first shown by Veneziano , cosmological evolution of the Universe is drastically different from that in the standard big-bang cosmology. In addition to post-big bang phase with an initial singularity, in string theory, a super-inflationary pre-big bang phase with a final singularity is present. Most interestingly, the pre-big bang phase may be juxtaposed with the post-big bang branch smoothly (referred as ‘branch change’ via ‘graceful exit’ ) so that the singularities of both phases are simultaneously smoothened out. This opens up an exciting possibility in string theory of realizing an eternally evolving, non-singular and inflationary universe. While physical detail of the ‘branch change’, where curvature and quantum effects are most pronounced, is yet to be understood thoroughly, recent studies have indicated that the ‘branch change’ could be triggered by higher-curvature , massive string state , and quantum  back reactions.

In this paper, we put the string cosmology to a test of the cosmological holographic principle, assuming homogeneity and isotropy and applying the holography in string frame to the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) Universe with flat or open spatial curvature <sup>2</sup><sup>2</sup>2Closed Universe will not be considered here since, as Veneziano  has emphasized, the very presence of initial and final singularities contradicts with the basic postulates of the non-singular string cosmology.. Summarizing the results, we find that flat Universe is ruled out by the principle unless the Universe is absolutely cold and vacuous throughout the pre-big bang phase. We also find that open universe can be consistent with the holographic principle, provided there exists a suitable mechanism of the ‘graceful exit’. While admittedly preliminary, the most compatible string cosmology with the holographic principle singles out the open Universe. Intriguingly, such an open Universe appears to be favored by recent measurement of the redshift-to-distance relation and theory of the large-scale structure formation .

Cosmological Holographic Principle: We begin with recapitulating the cosmological holographic principle. While the principle is applicable to any cosmological context, in this paper, we will be mostly applying the principle for semi-classical string theory.

At leading order in $`\alpha ^{}`$\- and string-loop expansions, the low-energy string effective action in $`(d+1)`$-dimensional spacetime is given by

$$S=\frac{V_{9d}}{l_s^{d1}}d^{d+1}x\sqrt{g}e^{2\varphi }\left[R4(\varphi )^2+_\mathrm{M}\right],$$
(1)   
where $`V_{9d},l_s,\varphi `$ denote the volume of the $`(9d)`$-dimensional compactified space, the string length scale and the dilaton field respectively. The Lagrangian $`_\mathrm{M}`$ summarizes matter contribution from (Neveu-Schwarz)$`\times `$(Neveu-Schwarz) sector. The $`(d+1)`$-dimensional effective Planck length scale, $`l_P(t)`$, depends on the dilaton field by <sup>3</sup><sup>3</sup>3Hereafter, we will take $`l_s=1`$.

$$l_P(t)=l_se^{\frac{2\varphi }{d1}}.$$
(2)   
We assume that the universe is spatially homogeneous and isotropic and hence is described by the FRW metric in string frame:

$$ds_{\mathrm{string}}^2=dt^2a^2(t)\left[\frac{dr^2}{1kr^2}+r^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_{d1}^2\right],$$
(3)   
where $`k=0,1,+1`$ correspond to a flat, open or closed Universe respectively. We will also assume that the NS-NS matter in $`_\mathrm{M}`$ is described by an ideal gas with equation of state $`p=\gamma \rho `$ for some constant $`\gamma `$. The equations of motion derived from Eq.(1) read

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}d(d1)\left(H^2+{\displaystyle \frac{k}{a^2}}\right)+2\dot{\varphi }^22dH\dot{\varphi }`$ $`=`$ $`e^{2\varphi }\rho `$   
$`dH^2+(d1){\displaystyle \frac{k}{a^2}}+\dot{H}2H\dot{\varphi }`$ $`=`$ $`e^{2\varphi }p`$   
$`4\dot{\varphi }^24dH\dot{\varphi }+2d\dot{H}2\ddot{\varphi }+d(d1)\left(H^2+{\displaystyle \frac{k}{a^2}}\right)`$ $`=`$ $`0,`$ (4)   
where $`H=\dot{a}/a`$ is the Hubble parameter in string frame, and $`\rho `$ and $`p`$ are the effective matter density and pressure. The above set of equations implies that the matter density and pressure are related by

$$\dot{\rho }+dH(\rho +p)=0.$$
(5)   
The cosmological holographic principle is a direct extension of ‘t Hooft’s holography . Consider a spatial region of coordinate size $`R`$, whose past light-cone converges to a point. The encolsed four-volume is a well-posed physical system with a given light-cone data. Assuming that ‘t Hooft’s holography is applicable to this physical region, the particle entropy inside the three-volume should be bounded by the gravitational entropy measured by the physical boundary area for all such radius $`R`$ and time $`t`$. That is, denoting particle entropy density in comoving coordinate $`\sigma `$, which is constant by virtue of Eq.(5), comoving three-volume $`𝒱(R)`$, and coordinate boundary area $`𝒜(R)`$, the holography condition is

$$\sigma 𝒱(R)\frac{a^{d1}(t)𝒜(R)}{l_P^{d1}(t)}.$$
(6)   
We will call the above as the ‘t Hooft holography condition. Note that all the geometric quantities involved (area, volume, four-volume) are notions rather independent of cosmology.

For the case of the standard cosmology, where an initial singularity is always present, Fischler and Susskind have shown that the cosmological holographic principle actually leads to a single condition involving the particle horizon $`R_H(t)`$ measured in comoving coordinates <sup>4</sup><sup>4</sup>4The particle horizon is independent of the choice between the string and the Einstein frame. $`R_H(t)=_{t_I}^t𝑑\tau /a(\tau )`$, where $`t_I`$ denotes the initial moment of the Universe. For a spherical region inside $`R_H(t)`$, whose surface area is $`A_H(t)`$ and enclosed volume is $`V_H(t)`$ (both measured in comoving coordinates), the cosmological holographic principle requires that an inequality between the particle entropy and the gravitational entropy

$$\sigma V_H(t)<\frac{a^{d1}(t)A_H(t)}{l_P^{d1}(t)},$$
(7)   
should hold for all time $`t`$, both past and future.

We will now test the holography on flat and open string Universe separately, first with the criterion Eq.(7). We will then show that the more general, ‘t Hooft criterion Eq.(6) yields essentially the same result.

Flat Universe: For flat Universe, the holography condition Eq.(7) may be rewritten as <sup>5</sup><sup>5</sup>5 The $`\stackrel{~}{a}(t)`$ turns out to coincide with the sacle factor in Einstein frame.

$$\frac{R_H(t)}{\stackrel{~}{a}^{d1}(t)}<\frac{d}{\sigma },\left(\stackrel{~}{a}(t)e^{2\frac{\varphi }{d1}}a(t)\right).$$
(8)   
As will be shown shortly, the pre-big bang phase of the flat Universe ranges $`\mathrm{}<t<0`$ ( viz. $`t_I\mathrm{}`$), over which $`a(t)a_0(t)^A`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{a}(t)\stackrel{~}{a}_0(t)^B`$. Importantly, the exponent $`A`$ is bounded above, $`A<1`$. Hence, at any time $`t`$,

$$R_H(t)=\frac{(t_I)^{1A}(t)^{1A}}{(1A)a_0}\mathrm{};\stackrel{~}{a}(t)\mathrm{finite}$$
(9)   
and the inequality Eq.(8) cannot be satisfied at any $`t`$. Apparently, the holography alone rules out the flat Universe in string cosmology. An interesting exception is if the flat Universe is absolutely cold and vacuous, viz. $`\sigma =0`$. Then, the holography condition Eq.(9) is trivially satisfied until the ‘graceful exit’ epoch, during which particle production will produce an entropy for all subsequent epoch. We thus conclude that the holography requires the flat string Universe should start not with matter but only with a cold and vacuous pre-big bang phase.

To verify the afore-mentioned behavior, we now solve Eqs.(4). Analytic solution of the pre-big bang phase in general $`d`$-spatial dimensions is given by:

$`a(t)`$ $`=`$ $`a_0(t)^{2\gamma /(1+d\gamma ^2)}`$   
$`\varphi (t)`$ $`=`$ $`\varphi _0+{\displaystyle \frac{d\gamma 1}{1+d\gamma ^2}}\mathrm{ln}(t)`$ (10)   
over the range $`\mathrm{}<t<0`$. Here, $`a_0,\varphi _0`$ are overall constant factors and the coordinate time $`t`$ is measured in string unit. If the Universe is dominated by the dilaton,

$`a(t)`$ $`=`$ $`a_0(t)^{1/\sqrt{d}}`$   
$`\varphi (t)`$ $`=`$ $`\varphi _0{\displaystyle \frac{1+\sqrt{d}}{2}}\mathrm{ln}(t).`$ (11)   
We observe that, as claimed, the initial moment $`t_I`$ extends to $`\mathrm{}`$ and the scale factor $`a(t)`$ behaves as $`a_0(t)^A`$ with $`A<1`$.

Open Universe: For an open Universe, we find it more convenient to rewrite Eq.(3)

$$ds_{\mathrm{string}}^2=a^2(\eta )\left[d\eta ^2(d\chi ^2+\mathrm{sinh}^2\chi d\mathrm{\Omega }_{d1}^2)\right],$$
(12)   
where we have introduced the conformal time

$$\eta _0^t\frac{d\tau }{a(\tau )}.$$
(13)   
The particle horizon $`R_H(\eta )`$ measured in conformal coordinates is simply $`R_H(\eta )=\eta \eta _I`$, where $`\eta _I`$ denotes the initial moment of the Universe. For the pre-big bang phase, $`\mathrm{}<\eta <0`$. Hence, $`R_H(\eta )\mathrm{}`$ for all time and, using this fact,

$$\frac{V_H(\eta )}{A_H(\eta )}=\frac{_0^{R_H(\eta )}𝑑\chi \mathrm{sinh}^{d1}\chi }{\mathrm{sinh}^{d1}R_H}=\frac{1}{d1}.$$
(14)   
This is a remarkable relation in that the volume to area ratio in comoving coordinates stays constant, in sharp contrast to the flat Universe case. It is equally remarkable in that the spatial volume-to-area relation Eq.(14) of the open Universe is strikingly similar to the spacetime volume-to-area relation  of the anti-de Sitter space, which also stays constant.

The holography condition Eq.(7) is now rephrased to

$$\frac{1}{\stackrel{~}{a}^{d1}(\eta )}<\frac{d1}{\sigma }.$$
(15)   
Thus, potentially the most dangerous epoch is when $`\stackrel{~}{a}0`$. It turns out, during this epoch, $`\stackrel{~}{a}(\eta )\stackrel{~}{a}_0(\eta )^{\stackrel{~}{B}}`$, as will be shown shortly. For $`\gamma <1`$, $`\stackrel{~}{B}>0`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{a}(\eta )`$ decreases monotonically. This appears to imply that the holography is violated near the final singularity of the pre-big bang phase, $`\eta 0`$. However, if the pre-big bang phase makes a graceful exit to the post-big bang phase smoothly, then $`\stackrel{~}{a}(\eta )`$ bounces back before the Universe reaches the final singularity $`\eta 0`$ and the holography can be satisfied. If $`\gamma >1`$, $`\stackrel{~}{B}`$ may be negative and $`\stackrel{~}{a}(\eta )`$ may increase monotonically. In this case, the holography is bound to fail incurably at the initial moment $`\eta \eta _I=\mathrm{}`$. Intriguingly, $`\gamma >1`$, which is inconsistent with special relativity, is also inconsistent with the holographic principle. We thus conclude that open Universe can be compatible with the cosmological holographic principle provided $`\gamma <1`$ and the pre-big bang phase makes successfully a graceful exit to the post-big bang phase.

We now verify that $`\stackrel{~}{a}(\eta )\stackrel{~}{a}_0(\eta )^{\stackrel{~}{B}}`$. In terms of the conformal time, the Einstein equations Eqs.(4) can be presented by

$`(\stackrel{~}{a}^{})^2`$ $`=`$ $`k\stackrel{~}{a}^2+{\displaystyle \frac{2\stackrel{~}{a}^2}{d(d1)}}\left[\rho e^{\frac{2(d+1)}{d1}\varphi }+{\displaystyle \frac{2}{d1}}{\displaystyle \frac{(\varphi ^{})^2}{\stackrel{~}{a}^2}}\right]`$ (16)   
$`\varphi ^{\prime \prime }`$ $`+`$ $`(d1){\displaystyle \frac{\stackrel{~}{a}^{}}{\stackrel{~}{a}}}\varphi ^{}={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}(dp\rho )(\stackrel{~}{a})^2e^{\frac{2(d+1)}{d1}\varphi },`$ (17)   
where the primes denote derivatives with respect to the conformal time $`\eta `$. From Eq.(5) and the equation of state, we further find

$$\rho =\rho _0\stackrel{~}{a}^{d(1+\gamma )}e^{\frac{2d(1+\gamma )}{d1}\varphi }.$$
(18)   
For the holography bound Eq.(15), potential violation of the holography occurs whenever $`\stackrel{~}{a}0`$ so that, from Eqs.(16)-(17), the spatial curvature term is sub-dominant over the remaining terms. During this epoch,

$`\stackrel{~}{a}(\eta )`$ $``$ $`\stackrel{~}{a}_0(\eta )^{\frac{2(1\gamma )}{(d1)(d\gamma ^22\gamma +1)}}`$   
$`\varphi (\eta )`$ $``$ $`\varphi _0+{\displaystyle \frac{d\gamma 1}{d\gamma ^22\gamma +1}}\mathrm{ln}(\eta ).`$ (19)   
If the Universe is dilaton dominated, 

$`\stackrel{~}{a}(\eta )`$ $``$ $`\stackrel{~}{a}_0(\eta )^{\frac{1}{d1}}`$   
$`\varphi (\eta )`$ $``$ $`\varphi _0{\displaystyle \frac{\sqrt{d}}{2}}\mathrm{ln}(\eta ).`$ (20)   
We then recognize immediately the claimed behavior of the scale factor: $`\stackrel{~}{a}(\eta )\stackrel{~}{a}_0(\eta )^{\stackrel{~}{B}}`$, where $`\stackrel{~}{B}>0`$ if $`\gamma <1`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{B}`$ may be negative if $`\gamma >1`$. Since the right hand side of Eq. (16) (with $`k=1`$) is positive definite for $`\mathrm{}<\eta <0`$, the signature of $`\stackrel{~}{a}^{}<0`$ remains the same all the time. Consequently, the scale factor $`\stackrel{~}{a}`$ is monotonically decreasing for $`\gamma <1`$, whereas it may be monotonically increasing for $`\gamma >1`$.

The ‘t Hooft’s Holography Condition: Actually, the conclusion drawn above based on the more specific, Fischler-Susskind condition also holds even if we apply the ‘t Hooft condition. The ‘t Hooft holography condition Eq.(6) is essentially the same as Eqs.(8,14,15), except now that $`R_H`$ should be interpreted as the comoving size $`R`$ of a fiducial region, namely, $`R/\stackrel{~}{a}^{d1}(t)<d/\sigma `$ for the flat Universe and $`(\sigma _0^R𝑑\chi \mathrm{sinh}^{d1}\chi )/(\stackrel{~}{a}^{d1}(t)\mathrm{sinh}^{d1}R)<1`$ for the open Universe. According to the ‘t Hooft’s condition, the holography should then hold for all choices of comoving size $`R`$ and time, as there is no beginning of the Universe in string cosmology. In particular, it should be so for the comoving size $`R`$ arbitrarily large. This immediately leads basically to the same conclusion as the Fischler-Susskind holography condition, even though the reasoning involved is completely different.

Consideration of Post-Big Bang Phase: It is also of interest to test the holography to the post-big bang phase. We only need to recall that the post-big bang phase is related to the pre-big bang one by simultaneous application of two symmetry transformations: scale-factor duality $`a(t)1/a(t)`$, $`\varphi (t)\varphi (t)d\mathrm{ln}a(t)`$, and time-reversal symmetry $`t+t`$.

The flat Universe evolves as $`a(t)a_0t^C`$ with $`C<1`$ during the post-big bang phase, $`0<t<+\mathrm{}`$. We thus find that

$$R_H(t)\mathrm{constant}t^{1C};\frac{V_H(t)}{\stackrel{~}{a}^{d1}(t)A_H(t)}\mathrm{constant}t^{\frac{(d\gamma ^21)}{(d\gamma ^2+1)}}.$$
(21)   
Hence, for the post-big bang matter with $`|\gamma |<1/\sqrt{d}`$ , the holography condition is satisfied for all later time provided the condition is satisfied at the Planck epoch. The condition at the Planck epoch puts a severe constraint on the ‘graceful exit’ mechanism since, as we have shown earlier, the Universe should be cold and vacuous during the pre-big bang phase and all the entropy should be created during the ‘graceful exit’ epoch, whose size is now constrained by the holography Eq.(21). Note also that, after the ‘graceful exit’ is taken into account, ‘effective’ particle horizon $`R_H^{\mathrm{eff}}(t)=_{\mathrm{}}^t𝑑\tau /a(\tau )`$ becomes infinite for all time.

For open Universe, during the post-big bang phase $`0<\eta <+\mathrm{}`$, $`\stackrel{~}{a}(\eta )\stackrel{~}{a}_0\eta ^{\stackrel{~}{D}}`$ with $`\stackrel{~}{D}>0`$. We then find that

$$R_H(\eta )=\eta ;\frac{V_H(\eta )}{\stackrel{~}{a}^{d1}(\eta )A_H(\eta )}\frac{\mathrm{constant}}{\stackrel{~}{a}^{d1}(\eta )}\frac{_0^{R_H}𝑑\chi \mathrm{sinh}^{d1}\chi }{\mathrm{sinh}^{d1}R_H}.$$
(22)   
For $`|\gamma |1/\sqrt{d}`$, the right-hand side of Eq.(22) is a monotonic decreasing function and again the holography is satisfied for all subsequent time provided it were at the Planck epoch. For $`|\gamma |1/\sqrt{d}`$, the right-hand side of Eq.(22) is a bounded function with a maximum at some finite conformal time. For either cases, we see that the holography condition at the Planck epoch can be satisfied since the ‘graceful exit’ connects the post-big bang phase to the holography compatible, pre-big bang phase.

Moreover, after the ‘graceful exit’ is taken into account, the ‘effective particle horizon’ $`R_H^{\mathrm{eff}}(\eta )=_{\mathrm{}}^\eta 𝑑\chi `$ in conformal coordinate becomes infinite and puts the holography condition most stringent. Nevertheless, as in the pre-big bang phase, the ratio $`V_H/A_H`$ stays at a finite value $`1/(d1)`$ and the holography can be easily satisfied.

Finally, several remarks are in order. First, we have seen that the holography requires a smooth ‘branch change’ interpolating the pre- and the post-big bang phases. During this epoch, unlike adiabatic pre- or post-big bang phases, copious particle production is expected due to nonadiabatic change of the spacetime and the dilaton background. The process thus produces particle entropy for the subsequent evolution of the Universe. In this regard, Veneziano has informed us of his interesting result  indicating that the particle entropy is produced in such a way to saturate the holographic bound. Second, throughout the paper, we have stated the holographic principle in terms of explicit solution of scale factor and dilaton. However, the statement of the holography condition itself involves only global aspects of the spacetime (past light-cone, cosmological singularity etc.). This hints that the cosmological holographic principle may be rephrased entirely in terms of global data of the Universe and matter. It would be interesting to formulate the principle along this direction explicitly. Third, our analysis has been on the assumption of homogeneity and isotropy. It would be interesting to see if the holography still works once such an assumption is dropped, especially in light of possible non-genericity  of and recent criticism  to the homogeneous string cosmology.

In this paper, we have tested the holographic principle to non-singular, string inflationary cosmology. Emerging from our analyis is a picture that there exists a striking parallel between the comoving spatial volume-to-area ratio in comoving coordinates for the open, flat and closed Universes and the Euclidean spacetime volume-to-area ratio for the anti-de Sitter, Minkowski and de Sitter spaces respectively. For open Universe and anti-de Sitter spacetime, the respective ratio approaches a constant value and the holography is satisfied. Likewise, for flat Universe and Minkowski spacetime, the respective ratio diverges linearly with the system size and are apt to violate the holography. For closed Universe and de Sitter spacetime, the area cannot be defined in an unambiguous manner and the holography is not subsistent at all.

We are grateful to M. Gasperini and G. Veneziano for useful correspondences.