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advanced_tools:group_theory:desitter [2018/03/24 11:09]
jakobadmin [Student]
advanced_tools:group_theory:desitter [2018/03/24 11:10] (current)
jakobadmin [FAQ]
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 The deSitter group becomes the Poincare group in the contraction limit $R \rightarrow \infty$, where $R$ is the so-called deSitter radius. Oftentimes, people prefer to work with the [[open_problems:​cosmological_constant|cosmological constant]] $ \Lambda \propto \frac{1}{R^2}$ instead. Analogously,​ the Poincare group becomes the Galilean group in the $c \rightarrow \infty$ limit. ​ The deSitter group becomes the Poincare group in the contraction limit $R \rightarrow \infty$, where $R$ is the so-called deSitter radius. Oftentimes, people prefer to work with the [[open_problems:​cosmological_constant|cosmological constant]] $ \Lambda \propto \frac{1}{R^2}$ instead. Analogously,​ the Poincare group becomes the Galilean group in the $c \rightarrow \infty$ limit. ​
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 +The fact that the deSitter group contracts to the Poincare group in the $R\rightarrow \infty$ limit, means that the Poincare group is a good approximation as long as we consider systems with a length scale that is small compared to $R$. This is analogous to how the Galilean group is good enough as long as we are only dealing with velocities much smaller than the invariant velocity $c$. 
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 +Expressed differently:​ the deSitter group is only important for cosmological systems, which have a length scale comparable to $R$. 
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 +Alternatively,​ we can talk about the invariant energy scale $\Lambda$. The deSitter group contracts to the Poincare group in the $\Lambda \rightarrow 0$ limit. Thus the deSitter structure is not important, as long as we are dealing with energies much larger than $\Lambda$. In systems with energies much larger than $\Lambda$ such a small constant energy has no effect. The present day value for the cosmological constant is $\Lambda \approx 10^{-56} \mathrm{m^{-2}}$ and this means that present day effects of the deSitter group structure are tiny. This means, the Poincare group is a great approximate symmetry nowadays, because $\Lambda$ is almost zero. 
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 +However, the deSitter group could be very important in the early universe, too. For example, because it seems plausible that there was [[https://​en.wikipedia.org/​wiki/​Inflation_(cosmology)|a phase when the cosmological constant was much higher]].
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---> ​Example2:#+-->It ist confusing what a "​five-dimensional"​ group like $SO(4,1)$ has to say about our four-dimensional world. Does this mean deSitter theories predict a fifth dimension?# 
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 +No, recall that an explicit representation of the Poincare group is given by $(5 \times 5)$ matrices, too! This is, because the Lorentz group transformations are $(4 \times 4)$ matrices themselves and in oredr to describe translations,​ we need to make these matrices into $(5 \times 5)$ matrices. See, for example, chapter 4 "The Poincaré transformations"​ in [[http://​www.springer.com/​us/​book/​9783642154812|Symmetries and Group Theory in Particle Physics]] by Costa and Fogly.
  
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advanced_tools/group_theory/desitter.1521886177.txt.gz · Last modified: 2018/03/24 10:09 (external edit)