Inflation by Robert Nemiroff Michigan Technological University

Physics X: About This Course Officially "Extraordinary Concepts in Physics" Being taught for credit at Michigan Tech o Light on math, heavy on concepts o Anyone anywhere is welcome No textbook required o Wikipedia, web links, and lectures only o Find all the lectures with Google at: "Starship Asterisk" then "Physics X" o

Problems with Original Big Bang Horizon problem o Why is the universe so uniform? o How does the left part of the universe know to have the same temperature as the right part? Flatness problem o Why is the geometry of the universe so close to flat? Magnetic monopole problem

Forces in the Universe Gravity Electromagnetism Strong Nuclear Force Weak Nuclear Force Electroweak force Grand unified theories Superstring theories

InflationInflation to the Rescue Universe suddenly begins to expand exponentially Caused by phase transition as strong nuclear force freezes out A repulsive cosmological constant temporarily dominates the energy density of the universe As inflation ends, matter and radiation are again created o Why inflation ends is related to the driving field, but is really unknown.

Timeline for the Early Universe t=10-43 sec, T=1033 K o Planck scale: theory of everything t=10-37 sec, T=1029 K o Grand unified theory phase transition o Strong nuclear force freezes out o Inflation T=10-35 sec, T=1028 K o Inflation ends o Particles created

Inflating the Universe Credit: WMAP Science Team, NASA APOD: 2006 March 23

A Force from Empty Space: The Casimir Effect Credit & Copyright: Umar Mohideen (U. California at Riverside) APOD: 2002 September 17