The Big Bang and the Quantum
arXiv:1005.5491 · doi:10.1063/1.3462605
Abstract
This short review is addressed to cosmologists. General relativity predicts that space-time comes to an end and physics comes to a halt at the big-bang. Recent developments in loop quantum cosmology have shown that these predictions cannot be trusted. Quantum geometry effects can resolve singularities, thereby opening new vistas. Examples are: The big bang is replaced by a quantum bounce; the `horizon problem' disappears; immediately after the big bounce, there is a super-inflationary phase with its own phenomenological ramifications; and, in presence of a standard inflaton potential, initial conditions are naturally set for a long, slow roll inflation independently of what happens in the pre-big bang branch.
18 pages, 6 figures. Plenary talk at the Invisible Universe conference held in Paris in July 2009. To appear in the Proceedings, edited by J. M. Alimi et al (AIP Publications)
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Cited by in corpus (13)
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- Probability of Inflation in Loop Quantum Cosmology
- Regularized big bang singularity
- Singularity avoidance in the hybrid quantization of the Gowdy model
- Observables for FRW model with cosmological constant in the framework of loop cosmology
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- Nonlinear Quantum Cosmology of de Sitter Space
- The Star Universe Model -- Another FLRW Patch
- Cosmology with Bounce by Flat Space-Time Theory of Gravitation and a New Interpretation