Related papers: Cycles in the Multiverse
We consider supersymmetric inflation models in which inflation occurs at an intermediate scale and which provide a solution to the $\mu$ problem and the strong CP problem. Such models are particularly attractive since inflation,…
We propose that the totality of dark matter in the universe might ascribe its origin to one of the key properties of cosmological inflation, that it may be eternal: regions that at the end of the primordial accelerated expansion of the…
Inflationary models, especially those with plateau-type potentials, are consistent with the cosmological data, but inflation itself does not resolve the initial singularity. This singularity is resolved, for example, by the idea of the…
We introduce a novel correlation, $n_s$ - $\Delta N$, connecting CMB parameters to the required total e-folds for eternal inflation. This correlation provides a robust tool for evaluating eternal (string) inflation models using CMB data and…
In the context of eternal inflation, cosmological predictions depend on the choice of measure to regulate the diverging spacetime volume. The spectrum of inflationary perturbations is no exception, as we demonstrate by comparing the…
Despite its central role in modern cosmology, doubts are often expressed as to whether cosmological inflation is really a falsifiable theory. We distinguish two facets of inflation, one as a theory of initial conditions for the hot big bang…
In this paper we introduce a simple discrete stochastic model of eternal inflation that shares many of the most important features of the continuum theory as it is now understood. The model allows us to construct a multiverse and rigorously…
The discovery of accelerating expansion of the universe has led us to take the dramatic view that our universe may be one of the many universes in which low energy physical laws take different forms: the multiverse. I explain why/how this…
The notion of inflation (past or present) in standard cosmological models is shown to be a consequence of a sufficiently high second law entropy production from the internal heating of the universal expansion. The longitudinal viscous…
The standard model of cosmology is based on the hot Big Bang theory and the inflationary paradigm. Recent precise observations of the temperature and polarization anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and the matter distribution…
Little is known about the microscopic physics that gave rise to inflation in our universe. There are many reasons to wonder if the underlying description requires a careful arrangement of ingredients or if inflation was the result of an…
The early stages of the universe evolution are discussed according to the hot big bang model and the grand unified theories. The shortcomings of big bang are summarized and their resolution by inflationary cosmology is sketched.…
We study various probability measures for eternal inflation by applying their regularization prescriptions to models where inflation is not eternal. For simplicity we work with a toy model describing inflation that can interpolate between…
The "new standard cosmology", based on the theory of inflation, has very impressive observational support. I review some outstanding problems of the new cosmology and the global view of the universe -- the multiverse -- that it suggests. I…
We are on the verge of the first precision testing of the inflationary cosmology as a model for the origin of structure in the Universe. I review the key predictions of inflation which can be used as observational tests, in the sense of…
I give a general formulation of the constraints on models of inflation ended by a first order phase transition arising from the requirement that they do not produce too many large (observable) true vacuum voids -- the `big bubble problem'.…
In pursuing the intriguing resemblance of the Einstein equations to thermodynamic equations, most sharply seen in systems possessing horizons, we suggest that eternal inflation of the stochastic type may be a fruitful phenomenon to explore.…
We provide a comprehensive numerical study of the Emergent Cyclic Inflation scenario. This is a scenario where instead of traditional monotonic slow roll inflation, the universe expands over numerous short asymmetric cycles due to the…
We show that, contrary to the standard belief, primordial monopoles expand exponentially during inflation in the new inflationary universe scenario. Moreover, inflation of monopoles continues without an end even when inflation ends in the…
It has been widely claimed that inflation is generically eternal to the future, even in models where the inflaton potential monotonically increases away from its minimum. The idea is that quantum fluctuations allow the field to jump uphill,…