Open Questions: Cosmic Inflation
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See also: Quantum cosmology --
Cosmic strings --
Higgs physics --
Beyond the standard model --
Cosmological models
Site indexes
Sites with general resources
-
Alan H. Guth
- Personal Web page. Contains general and biographical
information.
-
Andrei Linde
- Personal Web page with some professional information, including
references to Linde's work on the
self-reproducing inflationary universe.
There are also links to a number of images and animations that
help visualize inflation.
Surveys, overviews, tutorials
-
Cosmic inflation
- Article from
Wikipedia.
-
Inflation
- Part of the
Cambridge Cosmology site. Provides explanations of the
inflationary paradigm, how inflation addresses problems with the
standard big bang model, various inflationary scenarios and
predictions, and the effect of inflation on large scale structure
of the universe.
-
What is the Inflation Theory?
- Overview from the Microwave Anisotropy Probe site.
-
The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
- Overview from the Microwave Anisotropy Probe site.
-
Fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background
- Overview from the Microwave Anisotropy Probe site.
-
Inflation for Beginners
- Good elementary intoduction to inflation, by
John Gribbin.
-
Cosmic Inflation
- Good technical overview, part of elementary cosmology course
by David Bennett.
-
Eternal Inflation: Successes and Questions
- Slide presentation given by Alan Guth at the
2001: A Spacetime Odyssey conference.
Nice outline by the inventor of inflationary cosmology.
-
Inflation and string cosmology
- Slide presentation given by Andrei Linde at the
2001: A Spacetime Odyssey conference. Discusses pros and cons
of different models.
-
What is Inflation?
- Brief article by Chet Nieter. Part of a small group of pages on
Inflationary Cosmology and Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking.
-
The Big Bang and Chaotic Inflation
- Good overview by Rémy Indebetouw
-
Inflationary Cosmology and the Vacuum Potential
- Very good overview by Itay Sharon.
-
Sounds of the universe confirm big bang
- April 2001 news article in Science News about results of
the DASI experiment that find evidence of cosmic inflation in
the cosmic microwave background.
-
The Self-reproducing Inflationary Universe
- March 1998 article (in PDF format)
by Andrei Linde from a special issue of
Scientific American. Discusses how multiple universes may be
formed in the process which produces inflation.
-
A Golden Age of Cosmology
- Broad overview article from
Edge online magazine, by
Alan Guth, who (naturally) focuses especially on inflation.
-
Inflation and the New Era of High-Precision Cosmology
- 2002 survey article by Alan Guth, in PDF format. A short
but authoritative overview of the subject.
-
The Great Cosmic Roller-Coaster Ride
Cliff Burgess; Fernando Quevedo
Scientific American, October 2007
-
- Cosmic Inflation Comes of Age
Steve Nadis
Astronomy, April 2002, pp. 28-32
- Inflation solved a number of problems with the early big bang
model, and in the 23 years since the idea originated, all observable
evidence is still consistent with it. But there is still no way
to distinguish among a number of models that attempt to explain
how inflation started or stopped. [Five very short articles
following the main article discuss some of the models and
related topics.]
- Guth's Grand Guess
Brad Lemley
Discover, April 2002, pp. 32-39
- The theory of cosmic inflation that occurred to Alan Guth in
1979, was originally just a wild guess of the sort that theoretical
physicists play with all the time. Yet it has met every observational
challenge offered. It also leads to asking questions such as
what determines the fundamental laws of physics and whether the
universe as we know it is unique.
- Inflation in a Low-Density Universe
Martin A. Bucher, David N. Spergel
Scientific American, January 1999, pp. 62-69
- The standard inflationary hypothesis cannot explain
accelerating cosmic expansion. Necessary modifications of the
hypothesis are considered.
- Inflating the Cosmos
Timothy Ferris
Astronomy, July 1997, pp. 38-43
- Alan Guth's theory of inflation solved a variety of problems
in the original big bang theory. Continuing refinements of the
theory solve additional problems.
-
The Self-Reproducing Inflationary Universe
Andrei Linde
Scientific American, November 1994, pp. 48-55
- Detailed investigation of the inflationary model of the Big
Bang suggests that an unlimited number of independent universes,
rather than just one, could form continuously. New universes
could branch from those already existing in a fractal-like
pattern.
- Particle Physics and Inflationary Cosmology
Andrei Linde
Physics Today, September 1987, pp. 61-68
- The theories of cosmic inflation and unification of fundamental
forces have shown the close interdependence of comomology and
particle physics. Jointly they suggest that the big bang may not
have been a single event but an ongoing process, in which
mini-universes form continuously. The low-energy physics and
even the dimensionality of each such universe could vary.
- The Inflationary Universe
Alan H. Guth; Paul J. Steinhardt
Scientiric American, May 1984, pp. 116-128
- The inflationary theory proposes that the observable universe
is just a tiny portion of space which underwent exponential
expansion in the first instant after the big bang. The theory
is based on grand unified theories of particle physics and can
resolve several cosmological puzzles.
- Alan H. Guth - The Inflationary Universe: The Quest for a
New Theory of Cosmic Origins
Addison Wesley, 1997
- Guth originated the idea of inflation as a needed
improvement to the Big Bang theory. His book deals with most of
cosmology as well as inflation itself. It also covers the
relevant parts of high energy physics and such speculative
ideas as wormholes, multiple universes, and the mechanism
of creating a universe in the laboratory.
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Copyright © 2002 by Charles Daney, All Rights Reserved