-- 164 --

one Calabi-Yau to another slow down, with the extra dimensions ultimately settling into a Calabi-Yau shape that, optimistically,
gives rise to the physical features we observe in the world around us. The challenge facing physicists is to understand, in detail, the
evolution of the Calabi-Yau component of space so that its present form can be predicted from theoretical principles. With the
newfound ability of one Calabi-Yau to change smoothly into another, we see that the issue of selecting one, Calabi-Yau shape from
the many may in fact be reduced to a problem of cosmology.131

Before the Beginning?

Lacking the exact equations of string theory, Brandenberger and Vafa were forced to make numerous approximations and
assumptions in their cosmological studies. As Vafa recently said,

Our work highlights the new way in which string theory allows us to start addressing persistent problems in the
standard approach to cosmology. We see, for example, that the whole notion of an initial singularity may be
completely avoided by string theory. But, because of difficulties in performing fully trustworthy calculations in
such extreme situations with our present understanding of string theory, our work only provides a first look into
string cosmology, and is very far from the final word.132

Since their work, physicists have made steady progress in furthering the understanding of string cosmology, spearheaded by,
among others, Gabriele Veneziano and his collaborator Maurizio Gasperini of the University of Torino. Gasperini and Veneziano
have, in fact, come up with their own intriguing version of string cosmology that shares certain features with the scenario described
above, but also differs in significant ways. As in the Brandenberger and Vafa work, they too rely on string theory's having a
minimal length in order to avoid the infinite temperature and energy density that arises in the standard and inflationary
cosmological theories. But rather than concluding that this means the universe begins as an extremely hot Planck-size nugget,
Gasperini and Veneziano suggest that there may be a whole prehistory to the universe—starting long before what we have so far
been calling time zero—that leads up to the Planckian cosmic embryo.

In this so-called pre-big bang scenario, the universe began in a vastly different state than it does in the big bang framework.
Gasperini and Veneziano's work suggests that rather than being enormously hot and tightly curled into a tiny spatial speck, the
universe started out as cold and essentially infinite in spatial extent. The equations of string theory then indicate that—somewhat as
in Guth's inflationary epoch—an instability kicked in, driving every point in the universe to rush rapidly away from every other.
Gasperini and Veneziano show that this caused space to become increasingly curved and results in a dramatic increase in
temperature and energy density.133 After some time, a millimeter-sized three-dimensional region within this vast expanse could
look just like the superhot and dense patch emerging from Guth's inflationary expansion. Then, through the standard expansion of
ordinary big bang cosmology, this patch can account for the whole of the universe with which we are familiar. Moreover, because
the pre-big bang epoch involves its own inflationary expansion, Guth's solution to the horizon problem is automatically built into
the pre-big bang cosmological scenario. As Veneziano has said, "String theory offers us a version of inflationary cosmology on a
silver platter."134

The study of superstring cosmology is rapidly becoming an active and fertile arena of research. The pre-big bang scenario, for
example, has already generated a significant amount of heated, yet fruitful debate, and it is far from clear what role it will have in
the cosmological framework that will ultimately emerge from string theory. Achieving these cosmological insights will, no doubt,
rely heavily on the ability of physicists to come to grips with all aspects of the second superstring revolution. What, for example,
are the cosmological consequences of the existence of fundamental higher-dimensional branes? How do the cosmological
properties we have discussed change if string theory happens to have a coupling constant whose value places us more toward the
center of Figure 12.11 rather than in one of the peninsular regions? That is, what is the impact of full-fledged M-theory on the
earliest moments of the universe? These central questions are now being studied vigorously. Already, one important insight has
emerged.

M-Theory and the Merging of All Forces

131
With the discovery of M-theory and the recognition of an eleventh dimension, string theorists have begun studying ways of curling up all seven extra dimensions in a manner that puts
them all on more or less equal footing. The possible choices for such seven-dimensional manifolds are known as Joyce manifolds, after Domenic Joyce of Oxford University, who is
credited with finding the first techniques for their mathematical construction.
132
Interview with Cumrun Vafa, January 12, 1998.
133
The expert reader will note that our description is taking place in the so-called string frame of reference, in which increasing curvature during the pre-big bang arises from (a dilaton-
driven) increase in the strength of the gravitational force. In the so-called Einstein frame, the evolution would be described as an accelerating contraction phase.
134
Interview with Gabriele Veneziano, May 19, 1998.