Aspects of De Sitter Space - Lecture 1

Explore the intricacies of de Sitter space in this comprehensive lecture by Dionysios Anninos from King's College London. Delve into the classical and quantum aspects of asymptotically de Sitter spacetimes, examining the late time de Sitter wavefunction and the dS/CFT correspondence. Investigate a concrete example involving Vasiliev theory with interacting massless gauge higher spin fields. Compare and contrast the cosmological dS horizon with a standard black hole horizon. Follow along as the lecture progresses through topics such as motivation, geometry description, symmetry-based approaches, SO(1,4) group, scalar field behavior, equation solving, and TS gauge remarks. Engage with thought-provoking questions and enjoy a lighthearted moment with a funny story towards the end of this insightful exploration of de Sitter space.