Living Near de Sitter Bubble Walls

Abstract

We study various bubble solutions in string/M theories obtained by double Wick rotations of (non-)extremal brane configurations. Typically, the geometry interpolates de Sitter space-time times non-compact extra-dimensional space in the near-bubble wall region and the asymptotic flat Minkowski space-time. These bubble solutions provide nice background geometries reconciling string/M theories with de Sitter space-time. For the application of these solutions to cosmology, we consider multi-bubble solutions and find landscapes of varying cosmological constant. Double Wick rotation in string/M theories, used in this paper, introduces imaginary higher-form fields. Rather than regard these fields as classical pathologies, we interpret them as semi-classical decay processes of de Sitter vacuum via the production of spherical branes. We speculate on the possibility of solving the cosmological constant problem making use of the condensation of the spherical membranes.