Exact global solutions of brane universes and big bounce

摘要

Exact global solutions of five-dimensional cosmological models compactified on a S-1/Z(2) orbifold with two 3-branes are presented, and evolution of a simple model is studied. It is found that on all 4D spacetime hypersurfaces, except a singular one, the expanding universe was started not from a big bang but from a big bounce, and before the bounce the universe was in a deflationary contracting phase. It is also found that whether the energy density on the second brane is positive, zero, or negative depends on the size of the fifth dimension. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. [References: 19]