Astron. Astrophys. 358, 425-427 (2000)

Research Note

The big bang as a higher-dimensional shock wave

P. S. Wesson ¹, H. Liu ² and S. S. Seahra <sup>1

1</sup> Astronomy Group, Department of Physics, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
² Department of Physics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116023, P.R. China

Received 18 October 1999 / Accepted 22 December 1999

Abstract

We give an exact solution of the five-dimensional field equations which describes a shock wave moving in time and the extra (Kaluza-Klein) coordinate. The matter in four-dimensional spacetime is a cosmology with good physical properties. The solution suggests to us that the 4D big bang was a 5D shock wave.

Key words: relativity cosmology: cosmic microwave background cosmology: theory cosmology: early Universe

Send offprint requests to: P.S. Wesson
(e-mail: wesson@astro.uwaterloo.ca)

This article contains no SIMBAD objects.

Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. A 5D shock wave and the 4D big bang
• 3. Conclusion
• Acknowledgements
• References

© European Southern Observatory (ESO) 2000

Online publication: June 8, 2000
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