And the Big Smash

Recent observations suggest that the cosmological equation-of-state parameter w is close to−1. To say this is to imply thatw could be slightly less than−1, which leads to R.Caldwell’s “Phantom cosmologies”. These often have the property that they end in a “Big Smash”, a final singularity in which the Universe is destroyed in a finite proper time by excessive expansion. We show that, classically, this fate is not inevitable: there exist Smash-free Phantom cosmologies, obtained by a suitable perturbation of the deSitter equation of state, in which the spacetime is in fact asymptotically deSitter. [ Contrary to popular belief, such cosmologies, which violate the Dominant Energy Condition, do not necessarily violate causality.] We also argue, however, that the physical interpretation of these classically acceptable spacetimes is radically altered by “holography”, as manifested in the dS/CFT correspondence. With this new interpretation, Smash-free Phantom cosmology is no longer acceptable. The argument exploits recent speculations on “time as an inverse renormalization group flow”, which indicate that the bulk is effectively disconnected. Thus holography, via the dS/CFT correspondence, can eliminate cosmological models which might otherwise seem acceptable.