Related papers: Cosmic Initial Conditions for a Habitable Universe
In this paper we explore the relationship between the existence of eternal inflation and the initial conditions leading to inflation. We demonstrate that past and future completion of inflation is related, in that past-incomplete inflation…
We consider a Universe with a three-torus topology which before inflation is devoid of any matter or radiation. Its pre-inflationary evolution is driven solely by Casimir energies of the existing fields, with a radiation-like equation of…
In the presence of a short-distance cutoff, the choice of a vacuum state in an inflating, non-de Sitter universe is unavoidably ambiguous. The ambiguity is related to the time at which initial conditions for the mode functions are specified…
The eternal inflation scenario predicts that our observable universe resides inside a single bubble embedded in a vast inflating multiverse. We present the first observational tests of eternal inflation, performing a search for cosmological…
Using Bogomil'nyi inequality and the vanishing of topological charge at the unset of nucleation of a new universe permits a simpler,more direct insight into how topological defects (kinks and anti kinks) contribute to initial conditions at…
Theories with several hundred axion fields have enormous numbers of distinct meta-stable minima. A small fraction of these local minima have vacuum energy compatible with current measurements of dark energy. The potential also contains…
In previous work, we showed that the answer to the question posed in the title cannot be found within an equilibrium setting. The inclusion of {\em dynamical} backreaction effects from massive long wavelength modes on the initial DeSitter…
A variety of scenarios for early-universe cosmology give rise to a population of primordial black holes (PBHs) with a broad spectrum of masses. The evaporation of PBHs in such scenarios has the potential to place the universe into an…
This paper develops constraints on the values of the fundamental constants that allow universes to be habitable. We focus on the fine structure constant $\alpha$ and the gravitational structure constant $\alpha_G$, and find the region in…
The influence of recent detections of a finite vacuum energy ("cosmological constant") on our formulation of anthropic conjectures, particularly the so-called Final Anthropic Principle is investigated. It is shown that non-zero vacuum…
We re-analyze the question of the use of cosmological observations to infer the present state and future evolution of our patch of the universe. In particular, we discuss under which conditions one might be able to infer that our patch will…
Yes, if the universe has compact topology. Inflation is currently the most elegant explanation of why the universe is old, large, nearly flat, homogeneous on large scales and structured on small scales. One of the weaknesses of the…
A huge value of cosmological constant characteristic for the particle physics and the inflation of early Universe are inherently related to each other: one can construct a fine-tuned superpotential, which produces a flat potential of…
If inflation can occur only at the energy density V much smaller than the Planck density, which is the case for many inflationary models based on string theory, then the probability of quantum creation of a closed or an infinitely large…
There exists the "entropy problem" of the early universe, that is, why did the universe begin with an extremely low entropy and how did it evolve into such high entropy at late times? It has been long believed that inflation cannot be the…
In this paper we put forward the idea that the comoving Hubble horizon undergoes multiple stages of contraction (a.k.a. inflationary phase) and expansion. The observable inflation, that produces the CMB anisotropies and generates primordial…
Particle production processes in the expanding universe are described within a simple kinetic model. The equilibrium conditions for a Maxwell-Boltzmann gas with variable particle number are investigated. We find that radiation and…
We consider the fate of the observable universe in the light of the discovery of a dark energy component to the cosmic energy budget. We extend results for a cosmological constant to a general dark energy component and examine the…
The no-boundary proposal provides a compelling theory for the initial conditions of our universe. We study the implications of such initial conditions for ekpyrotic and cyclic cosmologies. These cosmologies allow for the existence of a new…
If the present acceleration of the universe is due to an asymptotically de Sitter universe with small cosmological constant, and the principle of Cosmological Complementarity is valid, then the number of e-foldings during inflation is…