Bose-Einstein condensation as an alternative to inflation
Abstract
It was recently shown that gravitons with a very small mass should have formed a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in the very early universe, whose density and quantum potential can account for the dark matter (DM) and dark energy (DE) in the universe respectively. Here, we show that the condensation can also naturally explain the observed large scale homogeneity and isotropy of the universe. Furthermore, gravitons continue to fall into their ground state within the condensate at every epoch, accounting for the observed flatness of space at cosmological distance scales. Finally, we argue that the density perturbations due to quantum fluctuations within the condensate give rise to a scale invariant spectrum. This therefore provides a viable alternative to inflation, which is not associated with the well-known problems associated with the latter.
- Publication:
-
International Journal of Modern Physics D
- Pub Date:
- September 2015
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1509.02658
- Bibcode:
- 2015IJMPD..2444001D
- Keywords:
-
- Inflation;
- horizon problem;
- Bose–Einstein condensate;
- dark matter;
- dark energy;
- cosmology;
- General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- This essay received an Honorable Mention in the 2015 Gravity Research Foundation Essay Competition