HEP Theory Journal Club

Emergent Cosmology From Matrix Theory

Samuel Laliberté

McGill

Matrix theory is a proposed non-perturbative definition of superstring theory in which space is emergent. Recently, it was shown that a 4-dimensional expanding universe can emerge in the IKKT matrix model, with the remaining 6 spatial dimensions stabilized at the string scale. A similar scenario was explored in the BFSS model, in which case the emerging phase yields a scale-invariant spectrum of scalar and tensor perturbation. In this talk, we will discuss recent progress in understanding these two scenarios. More precisely, we will discuss a possible way of obtaining the metric out of the IKKT results, and ways to probe symmetry breaking in the BFSS model.