Large extra dimensions from higher-dimensional inflation

Abstract

We propose the possibility that compact extra dimensions can obtain large size by higher-dimensional inflation, relating the weakness of the actual gravitational force to the size of the observable Universe. Solution to the horizon problem implies that the fundamental scale of gravity is smaller than 1013 GeV, which can be realized in a braneworld framework for any number of extra dimensions. However, requirement of an (approximate) flat power spectrum of primordial density fluctuations consistent with present observations makes this simple proposal possible only for one extra dimension at around the micron scale. After the end of five-dimensional inflation, the radion modulus can be stabilized at a vacuum with positive energy of the order of the present dark energy scale. An attractive possibility is based on the contribution to the Casimir energy of right-handed neutrinos with a mass at a similar scale. Published by the American Physical Society 2024