Randall-Sundrum II Cosmology, AdS/CFT, and the Bulk Black Hole

We analyse the cosmology of a brane world model where a single brane carrying the standard model fields forms the boundary of a 5-dimensional AdS bulk (the Randall-Sundrum II scenario). We focus on the thermal radiation of bulk gravitons, the formation of the bulk black hole, and the holographic AdS/CFT definition of the RSII theory. Our detailed calculation of bulk radiation reduces previous estimates to a phenomenologically acceptable, although potentially visible level. In late cosmology, in which the Friedmann equation depends linearly on the energy density \rho, only about 1% of energy density is lost to the black hole or, equivalently, to the `dark radiation' (\Omega_{d,N} \simeq 0.01 at nucleosynthesis). The preceding, unconventional \rho^2 period can produce up to 10% dark radiation (\Omega_{d,N} <\sim 0.1). The AdS/CFT correspondence provides an equivalent description of late RSII cosmology. We show how the AdS/CFT formulation can reproduce the \rho^2 correction to the standard treatment at low matter density. However, the 4-dimensional effective theory of CFT + gravity breaks down due to higher curvature terms for energy densities where \rho^2 behaviour in the Friedmann equation is usually predicted. We emphasize that, in going beyond this energy density, the microscopic formulation of the theory becomes essential. For example, the pure AdS_5 and string-motivated AdS_5\timesS^5 definitions differ in their cosmological implications.