Inflation in the universe
The hot big bang cosmology, or the standard cosmology as it is appropriately known, is a highly successful model, providing a reliable and tested accounting of the Universe from 0.01 sec after the bang until today, some 15 Gyr later. However, very special initial data seem to be required in order to account for the observed smoothness and flatness of our Hubble volume and for the existence of the small primeval density inhomogeneities required for the formation of structure in the Universe. Inflation offers a means of accounting for these special initial data, which is based upon physics at sub-planck energy scales (<< m/sub pl/ approx. = 10/sup 19/ GeV) and is motivated by contemporary ideas in particle theory. Here I review the status of the 'Inflationary Paradigm'. At present essentially all inflationary models involve a very weakly-coupled (quantified by the presence of a dimensionless parameter of order 10/sup -12/ or so) scalar field which is displaced from the minimum of its potential. Regions of the Universe where the scalar field is initially displaced from its minimum undergo inflation as the scalar field relaxes, resulting in a Universe today which resembles ours in regions much larger than our present Hubble volume (approx. = 10/sup 28/ cm), but which on very large scales (>> 10/sup 28/ cm) may be highly irregular. The most conspicuous blemish on the paradigm is the lack of a compelling particle physics model to implement it. I also review some other unresolved issues, and discuss in detail the all important confrontation between inflation and observational data. Finally, I discuss the possibility that inflation leads to large-scale, primeval magnetic fields of sufficient strength to be of astrophysical interest. 123 refs., 4 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); Chicago Univ., IL (USA). Enrico Fermi Inst.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH03000
- OSTI ID:
- 6349516
- Report Number(s):
- FNAL/C-87/86-A; CONF-8703143-1; ON: DE87010909
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Workshop on superstrings, composite structures, and cosmology, College Park, MD, USA, 11 Mar 1987; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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