3.4 Constraints From Fundamental Physics

In their version of Table 1 Dekel, Burstein, & White [54] give the Einstein-de Sitter model the highest grade on theoretical grounds, and a cosmologically flat model with the next highest grade. The point is well taken: this is the order most of us would choose. The issue is whether Nature agrees with our ideas of elegance, or maybe prefers physics that produces an open universe ([55] - [58]). Full closure of cosmology may come with the discovery of physics that predicts the values of and space curvature (Eq. [14]) in terms of the expansion age of the universe, consistent with all the other constraints in Table 1. But since we seem to be far from that goal I am inclined to omit entries in line 4.