F.R. Klinkhamer

In this review article, we first discuss a possible regularization of the big bang singularity of the standard Friedmann cosmology, where the singularity is replaced by a spacetime defect. We then consider the hypothesis that a new physics phase gave rise to this particular spacetime defect. Specifically, we set out on an explorative calculation using the IIB matrix model, which has been proposed as a particular formulation of nonperturbative superstring theory (M-theory).

S.L. Lyakhovich

A systematic procedure is proposed for inclusion of Stueckelberg fields. The procedure begins with the involutive closure of field equations equations when the original Lagrangian equations are complemented by all the lower order consequences. The involutive closure can be viewed as Lagrangian analogue of complementing constrained Hamiltonian system with secondary constraints. The involutively closed form of the field equations allows for explicitly covariant degree of freedom number count, which is stable with respect to deformations. If the original Lagrangian equations are not involutive, the involutive closure will be a non-Lagrangian system. The Stueckelberg fields are assigned to all the consequences included into the involutive closure of the Lagrangian system. The iterative procedure is proposed for constructing the gauge invariant action functional involving Stueckelberg fields such that Lagrangian equations are equivalent to the involutive closure of the original theory. The generators of the Stueckelberg gauge symmetry begin with the operators generating the closure of original Lagrangian system. These operators are not assumed to be a generators of gauge symmetry of any part of the original action, nor are they supposed to form an on shell integrable distribution. With the most general closure generators, the consistent Stueckelberg gauge invariant theory is iteratively constructed, without obstructions at any stage. The Batalin-Vilkovisky form of inclusion the Stueckelberg fields is worked out and existence theorem for the Stueckelberg action is proven.

Ahmad Sheykhi

Inspired by the Covid-$19$ virus structure, Barrow argued that quantum-gravitational effects may introduce intricate, fractal features on the black hole horizon [Phys. Lett. B {\bf808} (2020) 135643]. In this viewpoint, black hole entropy no longer obeys the area law and instead it can be given by $S\sim A^{1+\delta/2}$, where the exponent $\delta$ ranges $0\leq\delta\leq1$, and indicates the amount of the quantum-gravitational deformation effects. Based on this, and using the deep connection between gravity and thermodynamics, we disclose the effects of the Barrow entropy on the cosmological equations. For this purpose, we start from the first law of thermodynamics, $dE=TdS+WdV$, on the apparent horizon of the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) Universe, and derive the corresponding modified Friedmann equations by assuming the entropy associated with the apparent horizon has the form of Barrow entropy. We also examine the validity of the generalized second law of thermodynamics for the Universe enclosed by the apparent horizon. Finally, we employ the emergence scenario of gravity and extract the modified Friedmann equation in the presence of Barrow entropy which coincide with one obtained from the first law of thermodynamics. When $\delta=0$, the results of standard cosmology are deduced.

B. Joachimi, F. Köhlinger, W. Handley, P. Lemos

Summary statistics of the likelihood, such as the Bayesian evidence, offer a principled way of comparing models and assessing tension between, or within, the results of physical experiments. Noisy realisations of the data induce scatter in these model comparison statistics. For a realistic case of cosmological inference from large-scale structure we show that the logarithm of the Bayes factor attains scatter of order unity, increasing significantly with stronger tension between the models under comparison. We develop an approximate procedure that quantifies the sampling distribution of the evidence at small additional computational cost and apply it to real data to demonstrate the impact of the scatter, which acts to reduce the significance of any model discrepancies. Data compression is highlighted as a potential avenue to suppressing noise in the evidence to negligible levels, with a proof of concept on Planck cosmic microwave background data.

Abu Mohammad Khan

In this paper, we discuss the In\"on\"u-Winger contraction of the conformal algebra. We start with the light-cone form of the Poincar\'e algebra and extend it to write down the conformal algebra in $d$ dimensions. To contract the conformal algebra, we choose five dimensions for simplicity and compactify the third transverse direction in to a circle of radius $R$ following Kaluza-Klein dimensional reduction method. We identify the inverse radius, $1/R$, as the contraction parameter. After the contraction, the resulting representation is found to be the continuous spin representation in four dimensions. Even though the scaling symmetry survives the contraction, but the special conformal translation vector changes and behaves like the four-momentum vector. We also discussed the generalization to $d$ dimensions.