title: Brane worlds in collision.
abstract: We obtain an exact solution of the supergravity equations of motion in which the four-dimensional observed Universe is one of a number of colliding D3 branes in a Calabi-Yau background. The collision results in the ten-dimensional spacetime splitting into disconnected regions, bounded by curvature singularities. However, near the D3 branes the metric remains static during and after the collision. We also obtain a general class of solutions representing p-brane collisions in arbitrary dimensions, including one in which the universe ends with the mutual annihilation of a positive-tension and a negative-tension 3 brane.
authors.affiliation: DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge University Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 OWA, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lü
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Pope