2022/01/16 by Jaume de Haro, E. Elizalde, de Haro, Jaume +1
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #Geophysics and Gravity Measurements #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) #Relativity and Gravitational Theory
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2201.06097
openalex publication_date 2022/01/16 · openalex created_date 2022/04/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This is a very comprehensible review of some key issues in Modern Cosmology. Simple mathematical examples and analogies are always used, whenever available. The starting point is the well know Big Bang Cosmology (BBC). We deal with the mathematical singularities appearing in this theory and discuss some ways to remove them. Next, and before introducing the inflationary paradigm by means of some clear examples, we review the horizon and flatness problems of the old BBC model. We then consider the current cosmic acceleration and, as a procedure to deal with both periods of acceleration in a unified way, we study quintessential inflation. Finally, the reheating stage of the universe, via gravitational particle production, which took place after inflation ended, is discussed in simple mathematical terms, by involving the so-called α-attractors in the context of quintessential inflation.