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Inflation does not explain time asymmetry

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Abstract

Davies1 has argued that the inflationary cosmological scenario2–5 provides a natural explanation for the time asymmetry of the Universe. Here I dispute this argument by noting that the inflationary scenario implicitly invokes time asymmetry with the assumption of an absence of initial spatial correlations. No scenario based on charge-parity-time (CPT)-invariant dynamical laws can explain the time asymmetry apart from postulating or explaining these special initial conditions, as Penrose6,7 has emphasized.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Don N. Page

  2. Center for Theoretical Physics, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 78712, USA

    Don N. Page

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  1. Don N. Page
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Page, D. Inflation does not explain time asymmetry. Nature 304, 39–41 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/304039a0

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