de Sitter equilibrium as a fundamental framework for cosmology

Abstract

Cosmology might turn out to be the study of fluctuations around a "de Sitter equilibrium" state. In this article I review the basic ideas and the attractive features of this framework, and respond to a number common questions raised about the de Sitter equilibrium picture. I show that this framework does not suffer from the "Boltzmann Brain" problem, and relate this cosmological picture to recent work on the "clock ambiguity".

14 pages including 2 figures. In the proceedings of the DICE2008 conference, Thomas Elze ed. (IOP 2009) V2: Typos fixed in Eqns. 1, 10, 13, 18 and 20. No other changes

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• Vacuum Structure and the Arrow of Time
• Entropy Maximization in the Emergent Gravity Paradigm
• Modifications to Cosmological Power Spectra from Scalar-Tensor Entanglement and their Observational Consequences
• Transients in finite inflation
• Solutions to the Cosmic Initial Entropy Problem without Equilibrium Initial Conditions
• Out of equilibrium: understanding cosmological evolution to lower-entropy states
• Cosmic curvature from de Sitter equilibrium cosmology
• Einselection, Equilibrium and Cosmology
• Evolution of thermodynamic quantities on cosmological horizon in $\Lambda (t)$ model
• Thermodynamics of the R_h=ct Universe: A Simplification of Cosmic Entropy
• Energy stored on a cosmological horizon and its thermodynamic fluctuations in holographic equipartition law
• Holographic bounds and finite inflation
• Tuning, Ergodicity, Equilibrium and Cosmology
• No Firewalls or Information Problem for Black Holes Entangled with Large Systems
• Feeling de Sitter
• Creating universes with thick walls
• Toy model studies of tuning and typicality with an eye toward cosmology
• Disentangling the Cosmic/Comoving Duality: The Cognitive Stability and Typicality Tests
• Finite inflation in curved space