Abstract
We have seen how cosmic inflation can create an enormous universe from a tiny seed, while solving many problems that plagued pre-inflation models.
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Notes
- 1.
Recall, the scale invariance of density fluctuations from inflation is only approximate: fluctuations on greater distance scales are slightly larger than the smaller-scale fluctuations. The experimental data are consistent with these details.
- 2.
BICEP stands for Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization.
- 3.
Alexei Starobinsky suggested a model of inflation without scalar fields. In this model, the accelerated expansion of the universe is due to a quantum modification of Einstein’s equations. Starobinsky introduced his model in 1979, before Guth published his first paper on inflation. But he did not realize that an accelerated expansion period explains the puzzling features of the big bang, so Guth is generally credited with the idea of inflation.
- 4.
This formula assumes a flat geometry and gives the angular size in radians. If you want to express \(\theta\) in degrees, you can use \(2\pi radians = 360^\circ\).
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Perlov, D., Vilenkin, A. (2017). Testing Inflation: Predictions and Observations. In: Cosmology for the Curious. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57040-2_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57040-2_17
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