Optical models of the big bang and non-trivial space-time metrics based on metamaterials

Optics of metamaterials is shown to provide interesting table top models of many non-trivial space-time metrics. The range of possibilities is broader than the one allowed in classical general relativity. For example, extraordinary waves in indefinite metamaterials experience an effective metric, which is formally equivalent to the "two times physics" model in 2+2 dimensions. An optical analogue of a "big bang" event is presented during which a (2+1) Minkowski space-time is created together with large number of particles populating this space-time. Such metamaterial models enable experimental exploration of the metric phase transitions to and from the Minkowski space-time as a function of temperature and/or light frequency.