Brane gas cosmology, M-theory and little string theory

We generalize the Brane Gas Cosmological Scenario to M-theory degrees of freedom, namely M5 and M2 branes. Without brane intersections, the Brandenberger Vafa(BV) arguments applied to M-theory degrees of freedom generically predict a large 6 dimensional spacetime. We show that intersections of M5 and M2 branes can instead lead to a large 4 dimensional spacetime. One dimensional intersections in 11D is related to (2,0) little strings (LST) on NS5 branes in type IIA. The gas regime of membranes in M-theory corresponds to the thermodynamics of LST obtained from holography. We propose a mechanism whereby LST living on the worldvolume of NS5 (M5)-branes wrapping a five dimensional torus, annihilate most efficiently in 3+1 dimensions leading to a large 3+1 dimensional spacetime. We also show that this picture is consistent with the gas approximation in M-theory. (author)