Slinky evolution of domain wall brane cosmology

Invoking an initial symmetry between the time t and some extra spatial dimension y, we discuss a novel scenario where the dynamical formation of the 4 dimensional brane and its cosmological evolution are induced simultaneously by a common t→y symmetry breaking mechanism. The local maximum of the underlying scalar potential is mapped onto a "watershed" curve in the (t,y) plane; the direction tangent to this curve is identified as the cosmic time, whereas the perpendicular direction serves locally as the extra spatial dimension. Special attention is devoted to the so-called slinky configurations, whose brane cosmology is characterized by a decaying cosmological constant along the watershed curve. Such a slinky solution is first constructed within a simplified case where the watershed is constrained by y=0. The physical requirements for a slinky configuration to generate a realistic model of cosmological evolution are then discussed in a more elaborated framework.