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    Ekpyrotic Universe

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    Rahul Saha
    The ekpyrotic universe model proposes that the Big Bang was actually a Big Bounce following a previous epoch of contraction. It suggests that the large-scale structure of the universe originated from fluctuations that occurred before the bounce. The ekpyrotic model predicts a uniform, flat universe consistent with observations of the cosmic microwave background. It avoids problems with the multiverse that arise in inflationary models and makes predictions that could be tested by future experiments.

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    Ekpyrotic Universe

    Uploaded by

    Rahul Saha
    104 views3 pages
    The ekpyrotic universe model proposes that the Big Bang was actually a Big Bounce following a previous epoch of contraction. It suggests that the large-scale structure of the universe originated from fluctuations that occurred before the bounce. The ekpyrotic model predicts a uniform, flat universe consistent with observations of the cosmic microwave background. It avoids problems with the multiverse that arise in inflationary models and makes predictions that could be tested by future experiments.

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    The ekpyrotic universe model proposes that the Big Bang was actually a Big Bounce following a previous epoch of contraction. It suggests that the large-scale structure of the universe originated from fluctuations that occurred before the bounce. The ekpyrotic model predicts a uniform, flat universe consistent with observations of the cosmic microwave background. It avoids problems with the multiverse that arise in inflationary models and makes predictions that could be tested by future experiments.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    104 views3 pages

    Ekpyrotic Universe

    Uploaded by

    Rahul Saha
    The ekpyrotic universe model proposes that the Big Bang was actually a Big Bounce following a previous epoch of contraction. It suggests that the large-scale structure of the universe originated from fluctuations that occurred before the bounce. The ekpyrotic model predicts a uniform, flat universe consistent with observations of the cosmic microwave background. It avoids problems with the multiverse that arise in inflationary models and makes predictions that could be tested by future experiments.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    Ekpyrotic universe

    The ekpyrotic universe (/ˌɛkpɪˈrɑːtɪk/, AHD: /ĕk′pī- since the ekpyrotic and cyclic models predict that no B-
    rŏt′ĭk/)[1] is a cosmological model of the early universe mode patterns should be observed.
    that explains the origin of the large-scale structure of the
    cosmos. The model has also been incorporated in the
    cyclic universe theory (or ekpyrotic cyclic universe the-
    ory), which proposes a complete cosmological history,
    both the past and future.

    3 Implications for cosmology


    1 Origins
    The original ekpyrotic model was introduced by Justin A key advantage of ekpyrotic and cyclic models is that
    Khoury, Burt Ovrut, Paul Steinhardt and Neil Turok in they do not produce a multiverse. This is important, be-
    2001. Steinhardt created the name based on the early cause, when the effects of quantum fluctuations are prop-
    word ekpyrosis (Ancient Greek: ἐκπύρωσις, ekpurōsis, erly included in the big bang inflationary model, they pre-
    “conflagration”); it refers to an ancient Stoic cosmolog- vent the universe from achieving the uniformity and flat-
    ical model in which the universe is caught in an eternal ness that the cosmologists are trying to explain. Instead,
    cycle of fiery birth, cooling and rebirth.[2] inflated quantum fluctuations cause the universe to break
    up into patches with every conceivable combination of
    The name is well-suited to the theory, which addresses physical properties. Instead of making clear predictions,
    the fundamental question that remains unanswered by the the big bang inflationary theory allows any outcome, so
    big bang inflationary model: what happened before the that the properties we observe may be viewed as random
    big bang? The explanation, according to the ekpyrotic chance, resulting from the particular patch of the mul-
    theory, is that the big bang was actually a big bounce, tiverse in which the Earth resides. Most regions of the
    a transition from a previous epoch of contraction to the multiverse would have very different properties.
    present epoch of expansion. The key events that shaped
    our universe occurred before the bounce, and, in a cyclic Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg has suggested that if the
    version, the universe bounces at regular intervals.[3] multiverse is true, “the hope of finding a rational expla-
    nation for the precise values of quark masses and other
    constants of the standard model that we observe in our
    big bang is doomed, for their values would be an acci-
    2 Applications of the theory dent of the particular part of the multiverse in which we
    live.”[4]
    The original ekpyrotic models relied on string theory,
    branes and extra dimensions, but most contemporary The idea that the properties of our universe are an acci-
    ekpyrotic and cyclic models use the same physical in- dent and come from a theory that allows a multiverse of
    gredients as inflationary models (quantum fields evolving other possibilities is hard to reconcile with the fact that
    in ordinary space-time). The theory has shown impres- the universe is extraordinarily simple (uniform and flat)
    sive success in accurately describing what we know so on large scales and that elementary particles appear to be
    far about our universe. It predicts a uniform, flat uni- described by simple symmetries and interactions. Also,
    verse with patterns of hot spots and cold spots now vis- the accidental concept cannot be falsified by an experi-
    ible in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and ment since any future experiments can be viewed as yet
    has been confirmed by the WMAP and Planck satellite other accidental aspects.
    experiments. Discovery of the CMB was originally con- In ekpyrotic and cyclic models, smoothing and flattening
    sidered a landmark test of the big bang, but proponents occurs during a period of slow contraction, so quantum
    of the ekpyrotic and cyclic theories have shown that the fluctuations are not inflated and cannot produce a multi-
    CMB is also consistent with a big bounce, as posited by verse. As a result, the ekpyrotic and cyclic models predict
    the ekpyrotic and cyclic theories. The search for primor- simple physical properties that are consistent with current
    dial gravitational waves in the CMB (which produce pat- experimental evidence without producing a multiverse.
    terns of polarized light known as B-modes) may eventu- This makes these models valuable and, at the same time,
    ally help scientists distinguish between the rival theories, vulnerable since they can be falsified by experiments.

    1
    2 6 FURTHER READING

    4 See also
    • Cosmic inflation
    • Cyclic model
    • Physical cosmology

    5 Notes and references


    [1] “Ekpyrotic Definition and Pronunciation”. American
    Heritage Dictionary. Retrieved October 30, 2016.

    [2] 'The dissolution of the universe into fire'. In Stoic phi-


    losophy, ekpyrosis, all-engulfing cosmic fire, represents
    the contractive phase of eternally-recurring destruction
    and re-creation. On “ekpyrosis” see generally Michael
    Lapidge, 'Stoic Cosmology,' in John M. Rist, The Sto-
    ics, Cambridge University Press, 1978, pp. 161–186, pp.
    180–184.

    [3] Steinhardt, P. J.; Turok, N. (2002-04-25). “A


    Cyclic Model of the Universe”. Science. 296
    (5572): 1436–1439. Bibcode:2002Sci...296.1436S.
    PMID 11976408. arXiv:hep-th/0111030v2 .
    doi:10.1126/science.1070462.

    [4] Weinberg, Steven (November 20, 2007). “Physics: What


    we do and don't know”. The New York Review of Books.

    6 Further reading
    • P. J. Steinhardt and N. Turok, Endless Universe: Be-
    yond the Big Bang, Doubleday, 2007.
    • A Brief Introduction to the Ekpyrotic Universe by
    Steinhardt, Paul J., Department of Physics, Prince-
    ton University.
    • Greene, Brian, The Elegant Universe: Superstrings,
    Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate
    Theory, Vintage (2000).
    • Kallosh, Renata, Kofman, Lev and Linde, Andrei,
    Pyrotechnic Universe (the first paper to point out
    problems with the theory).
    • Whitehouse, David, "Before the Big Bang". BBC
    News. April 10, 2001.
    • Discover Magazine, Before the Big Bang February
    2004 issue.
    • Parallel Universes, (BBC Two 9.00pm Thursday
    February 14, 2002).
    • 'Brane-Storm' Challenges Part of Big Bang Theory.
    • Yi-Fu Cai, Damien A. Easson, Robert Branden-
    berger, Towards a Nonsingular Bouncing Cosmol-
    ogy, arXiv:1206.2382, (June 2012).
    3

    7 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses


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