Spatially homogeneous string cosmologies

Abstract

We determine the most general form of the antisymmetric $H$-field tensor derived from a purely time-dependent potential that is admitted by all possible spatially homogeneous cosmological models in 3+1-dimensional low-energy bosonic string theory. The maximum number of components of the $H$ field that are left arbitrary is found for each homogeneous cosmology defined by the Bianchi group classification. The relative generality of these string cosmologies is found by counting the number of independent pieces of Cauchy data needed to specify the general solution of Einstein's equations. The hierarchy of generality differs significantly from that characteristic of vacuum and perfect-fluid cosmologies. The degree of generality of homogeneous string cosmologies is compared to that of the generic inhomogenous solutions of the string field equations.