Entropic inflation

Damien Easson, Paul H. Frampton, George F. Smoot

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

54 Scopus citations

Abstract

One of the major pillars of modern cosmology theory is a period of accelerating expansion in the early universe. This accelerating expansion, or inflation, must be sustained for at least 30 e-foldings. One mechanism used to drive the acceleration is the addition of a new energy field, called the inflaton; often this is a scalar field. We propose an alternative mechanism which, like our approach to explain the late-time accelerating universe, uses the entropy and temperature intrinsic to information holographically stored on a surface enclosing the observed space. The acceleration is due in both cases to an emergent entropic force, naturally arising from the information storage on the horizon.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number1250066
JournalInternational Journal of Modern Physics A
Volume27
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - May 10 2012

Keywords

  • Entropic force
  • Inflation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics

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