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Article Contents
- ABSTRACT
- 1.OVERVIEW
- 2.BIG BANG PROBLEMS AND THE IDEA OF INFLATION
- 2.1.A hot big bang reminder
- 2.2.Equations of motion
- 2.3.Standard cosmological solutions
- 2.4.Critical density and the
density parameter
- 2.5.Characteristic scales and horizons
- 2.6.Redshift and temperature
- 2.7.The history of the Universe
- 3.PROBLEMS WITH THE BIG BANG
- 3.1.The flatness problem
- 3.2.The horizon problem
- 3.3.The monopole problem (and other
relics)
- 4.THE IDEA OF INFLATION
- 4.1.The flatness problem
- 4.2.Relic abundances
- 4.3.The horizon problem and
homogeneity
- 5.MODELLING THE INFLATIONARY EXPANSION
- 5.1.Scalar fields and their potentials
- 5.2.Equations of motion and solutions
- 5.3.The relation between inflation and slow-roll
- 5.4.The amount of inflation
- 5.5.A worked example: polynomial chaotic inflation
- 5.6.Reheating after inflation
- 5.7.The range of inflation models
- 5.7.1.Chaotic inflation models
- 5.7.2.Multi-field theories
- 5.7.3.Beyond general relativity
- 5.7.4.Open inflation
- 5.8.Recap
- 6.DENSITY PERTURBATIONS AND GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
- 6.1.Production during inflation
- 6.2.A worked example
- 6.3.Observational consequences
- 6.4.Testing the idea of inflation
- 7.THE INFLATIONARY ORIGIN OF STRUCTURE
- 7.1.The parameters
- 7.2.The inflationary energy scale
- 7.3.Beyond the energy scale
- 8.SUMMARY
- REFERENCES