The type IIB matrix model is a promising candidate for a nonperturbative formulation of superstring theory. In the Lorentzian version, in particular, the emergence of (3+1)D expanding space-time was observed by Monte Carlo studies of this model. Here we provide new perspectives on the (3+1)D expanding space-time that have arised from recent studies.
First it was found that the matrix configurations generated by the simulation are singular in that the submatrices representing the expanding 3D space have only two large eigenvalues associated with the Pauli matrices. This problem was conjectured to occur due to the approximation used to avoid the sign problem in simulating the model. In order to confirm this conjecture, the complex Langevin method was applied to overcome the sign problem instead of using the approximation. The results indeed showed a clear departure from the Pauli-matrix structure, while the (3+1)D expanding behavior remained unaltered. It was also found that classical solutions obtained within a certain ansatz show quite generically a (3+1)D expanding behavior with smooth space-time structure.