Inflation and quantum cosmology

Bibliographic Information

Inflation and quantum cosmology

A.D. Linde ; edited and with a foreword by Robert Brandenberger

Academic Press, c1990

Available at  / 28 libraries

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Note

Based on prof. Andrei Linde's Morris Loeb lectures delivered at Harvard University in October 1987

Includes bibliographical references

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Inflation and Quantum Cosmology discusses the inflationary universe scenario, including the problems of the standard big bang theory and the interplay between elementary-particle theory and cosmology. Inflationary universe models generate many different final perturbation spectra. For example, a model of an inflationary universe, through a casual mechanism, can predict energy density fluctuations leading to the formation of galaxies. The inflationary universe scenario makes possible simultaneous solutions to ten problems related to cosmology and elementary particle physics. One problem concerns the origin of density perturbations that show a picture of the large-scale structure of the universe. Some unexplored possibilities are related to isothermal perturbations generated during inflation or to adiabatic perturbations with a non-flat spectrum. An inflationary universe cosmology also includes stochastic inflation that describes the universe on very large scales-from fragmented mini-universes to another inflationary cosmos. The book also discusses the problem relating to the initial conditions from which an inflationary universe starts. This book is suitable for astronomers, astrophysicists, and professors of cosmology and cosmogenesis.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Particle Physics and Inflationary Cosmology 1. The Universe as Accelerator 2. Problems of the Standard Theory 3. The Inflationary Paradigm 4. Chaotic Inflation 5. Initial Conditions 6. Quantum Fluctuations 7. Eternal Inflation 8. Mutation 9. Cosmology and Particle PhysicsChapter 2 Generation of Density Perturbations 1. Introduction 2. Inflation 3. Scalar Field Fluctuations in the Inflationary Universe 4. Generation of Isothermal Perturbations in a Simple Model of Two Noninteracting Scalar Fields 5. Isothermal Perturbations in the Axion Model 6. Effects Connected with Phase Transitions During Inflation 7. Nonperturbative Effects: Bubbles, Strings, Domain Walls, Monopoles 8. ConclusionsChapter 3 Quantum Cosmology and the Stochastic Approach to Inflation 1. Inflation and the Wave Function of the Universe 2. Fluctuating Scalar Field and Eternal Chaotic Inflation 3. Diffusion of the Scalar Field During Inflation 4. Fluctuating Field in a Fluctuating Metric 5. Chaotic Inflation with Constrained Fields 6. The Universe with Fluctuating Dimension, Baby Universe Formation and Stochastic Approach to Inflation 7. Life After Inflation 8. Cosmological Constant Problem, Universe Multiplication, Baby Universes and Anthropic PrincipleAppendix Illustrations: More on Particle Physics and the Creation of the Universe

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