Eternal inflation predicts that time will end

Journal Article · Sat Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.83.023525· OSTI ID:21503945

Bousso, Raphael ^[1]; Freivogel, Ben ^[2]; Leichenauer, Stefan; Rosenhaus, Vladimir ^[1]

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1. Center for Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7300 (United States)
2. Center for Theoretical Physics and Laboratory for Nuclear Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)

Present treatments of eternal inflation regulate infinities by imposing a geometric cutoff. We point out that some matter systems reach the cutoff in finite time. This implies a nonzero probability for a novel type of catastrophe. According to the most successful measure proposals, our galaxy is likely to encounter the cutoff within the next 5x10{sup 9} years.

• OSTI ID: 21503945
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 83, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.83.023525; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
FORECASTING
GALAXIES
INFLATIONARY UNIVERSE
PROBABILITY
SIMULATION
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS