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The Einstein field equation in a multidimensional universe

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Abstract

String theory [4] predicts that the universe has 10 or 26 dimensions. A salient problem is how the Einstein field equation should be written in terms of these revivified Kaluza-Klein cosmologies. The answer is by now well-known, yet nobody seems to have rewritten the seminal computation in [6] where an unnecessarily involved Euler-Lagrange variational method is employed and, curiously enough, no allusion to the Gauss-Bonnet-Chern theorem is made. We provide a more straightforward argument, which has been inspired by Hilbert's original derivation of the Einstein field equation [5].

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This research was supported by the Oskar Huttunen Foundation.

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Pekonen, O. The Einstein field equation in a multidimensional universe. Gen Relat Gravit 20, 667–670 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00758971

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00758971

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