Inflation in Inhomogeneous Universes

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: The standard analysis of inflation relies on the fine-tuned initial condition of a homogeneous patch. Besides the improbability of such an initial condition, homogeneity should ultimately be a consequence of inflation and not its cause. To resolve this “initial patch problem”, this thesis will discuss how inflationary expansion can arise in 2+1D and 3+1D cosmologies with arbitrarily large inhomogeneities, by leveraging a tool from geometric analysis known as mean-curvature flow. It will also propose future directions for studying the onset of inflation under inhomogeneities and possible applications of mean-curvature flow to holography.

Author	Wang, Jinhui
Thesis advisor	Senatore, Leonardo
Thesis advisor	Silverstein, Eva
Degree granting institution	Stanford University
Department	Department of Physics

Subject	Inflationary universe
Subject	Inhomogeneous initial conditions
Subject	Initial patch problem
Subject	Mean-curvature flow
Subject	Inhomogeneous universes
Subject	Cosmology
Subject	General relativity (Physics)
Subject	High-energy theory
Genre	Text
Genre	Thesis

Related item	Preferred citation Wang, J., & Senatore L. (2021). On the asymptotics of 3+1D cosmologies with bounded scalar potential and isometry group forming 2-dimensional orbits, arXiv:2111.09257 [hep-th].
DOI	https://doi.org/10.25740/td164tm1796
Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/td164tm1796

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred citation: Wang, J. (2022). Inflation in Inhomogeneous Universes. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at https://purl.stanford.edu/td164tm1796

Undergraduate Theses, Department of Physics

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