Cosmology with Torsion: An Alternative to Cosmic Inflation

Authors

Nikodem Poplawski, University of New HavenFollow

Author URLs

Professor Poplawski's Faculty Profile

Professor Poplawski's Webpage

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2010

Subject: LCSH

Universe, Torsion

Disciplines

Physics

Abstract

We propose a simple scenario which explains why our Universe appears spatially flat, homogeneous and isotropic. We use the Einstein–Cartan–Kibble–Sciama (ECKS) theory of gravity which naturally extends general relativity to include the spin of matter. The torsion of spacetime generates gravitational repulsion in the early Universe filled with quarks and leptons, preventing the cosmological singularity: the Universe expands from a state of minimum but finite radius. We show that the dynamics of the closed Universe immediately after this state naturally solves the flatness and horizon problems in cosmology because of an extremely small and negative torsion density parameter,Ω_S≈−¹⁰⁻⁶⁹. Thus the ECKS gravity provides a compelling alternative to speculative mechanisms of standard cosmic inflation. This scenario also suggests that the contraction of our Universe preceding the bounce at the minimum radius may correspond to the dynamics of matter inside a collapsing black hole existing in another universe, which could explain the origin of the Big Bang.

Comments

© 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. Open Access funded by SCOAP³ - Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics

DOI

10.1016/j.physletb.2010.09.056

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Repository Citation

Popławski, N. J. (2010). Cosmology with torsion: An alternative to cosmic inflation. Physics Letters B, 694(3), 181-185.

Publisher Citation

Popławski, N. J. (2010). Cosmology with torsion: An alternative to cosmic inflation. Physics Letters B, 694(3), 181-185.