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Effective field theories as a novel probe of fine-tuning of cosmic inflation
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics ( IF 1.663 ) Pub Date : 2020-05-18 , DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsb.2020.05.001
Feraz Azhar

The leading account of several salient observable features of our universe today is provided by the theory of cosmic inflation. But an important and thus far intractable question is whether inflation is generic, or whether it is finely tuned—requiring very precisely specified initial conditions. In this paper I argue that a recent, model-independent characterization of inflation—that treats inflation as an effective field theory (EFT)—promises to address this question in a thoroughly modern and significantly more comprehensive way than in the existing literature.

To motivate and provide context for this claim, I distill three core problems with the theory of inflation, which I dub the permissiveness problem, the initial conditions problem, and the multiverse problem. I argue that the initial conditions problem lies within the scope of EFTs of inflation as they are currently conceived, whereas the other two problems remain largely intractable: their solution must await a more complete description of the very early universe. I highlight recent work that addresses the initial conditions problem within the context of a dynamical systems analysis of a specific (state-of-the-art) EFT of inflation, and conclude with a roadmap for how such work might be extended to realize the promise claimed above.



中文翻译:

有效的场论是微调宇宙通货膨胀的新颖方法

宇宙通货膨胀理论提供了当今宇宙几个显着可观测特征的主要解释。但是,一个重要且迄今为止棘手的问题是,通货膨胀是通用的还是经过微调的?这需要非常精确地指定初始条件。在本文中,我认为,通货膨胀的一种新的,与模型无关的特征-将通货膨胀视为一种有效的场论(EFT)-有望以一种比现有文献更加彻底,更全面的方式解决这一问题。

为了激发这一主张并为其提供背景,我用通货膨胀理论提炼了三个核心问题,我将其称为许可性问题初始条件问题多元宇宙问题。我认为,初始条件问题在当前设想的通货膨胀电子转帐的范围之内,而其他两个问题在很大程度上仍然是棘手的:它们的解决方案必须等待对早期宇宙的更完整描述。我重点介绍了最近的工作,该工作是在对特定的(最新的)通货膨胀电价进行动态系统分析的背景下解决初始条件问题的,并总结了如何扩展此类工作以实现承诺的路线图以上声称。

更新日期:2020-05-18
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