Cosmological Inflation
Motivation: The Standard Cosmology and its Discontents
- successes
- questions/loose ends
- >horizon problem
- smoothness problem
- flatness problem
- lumpiness problem
- monopole problem
- compare: Standard Model of Particle Physics
Abstract Inflation
- the magic of acceleration
- interrelations among solutions to horizon, flatness, monopoles
Inflation Scenarios
- initial conditions:
Linde's chaotic inflaton field
- scalar field dominance (Guth 1981)
- slow roll
- graceful exit
- reheating
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