What is it about?
While inflationary cosmology is plagued by its unavoidable violation of the energy conditions in general relativity, there does in fact exist a unique scalar field, called `numen' in this paper, that satisfies all of them. Its characteristics are actually more consistent with the cosmic microwave background data, demonstrating its viability as the correct constituent of the cosmic fluid in the early Universe.
Featured Image
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Why is it important?
As the cosmic measurements become more and more precise, the observations reveal growing tension between inflation's basic premise and the data. Salvaging some of its key features is desirable, however, and it appears that an alternative scalar field that does not inflate, yet agrees with the data, is actually validated in other important ways by general relativity. Adopting this new view of the early Universe would significantly change the paradigm, but appears to be unavoidable going forward.
Perspectives
This is one of the most important papers published thus far on the alternative Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker cosmology known as the R_h=ct universe. While much of the earlier work with this model has focused on the empirical evidence supporting it, this paper probes a much more fundamental aspect in Einstein's theory that appears to fully support it in contrast to the persistent conflict between general relativity and inflationary cosmology.
Professor Fulvio Melia
University of Arizona
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Validation of the Numen Field by the Energy Conditions in the Early Universe, Annalen der Physik, July 2023, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/andp.202300157.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
