Does inflation provide natural initial conditions for the universe?

May, 2005
6 pages
Published in:
  • Gen.Rel.Grav. 37 (2005) 1671-1674,
  • Int.J.Mod.Phys.D 14 (2005) 2335-2340
e-Print:

Citations per year

20052010201520202024012345
Abstract: (arXiv)
If our universe underwent inflation, its entropy during the inflationary phase was substantially lower than it is today. Because a low-entropy state is less likely to be chosen randomly than a high-entropy one, inflation is unlikely to arise through randomly-chosen initial conditions. To resolve this puzzle, we examine the notion of a natural state for the universe, and argue that it is a nearly-empty spacetime. If empty space has a small vacuum energy, however, inflation can begin spontaneously in this background. This scenario explains why a universe like ours is likely to have begun via a period of inflation, and also provides an origin for the cosmological arrow of time.
Note:
  • Submitted to Gravity Research Foundation Essay Competition: Based on hep-th/0410270
  • Cosmology
  • inflation
  • entropy
  • arrow of time
  • inflation
  • entropy
  • vacuum state: energy
  • space-time: de Sitter
  • boundary condition
Loading ...