A survey of physicists finds that claimed consensus positions on foundational topics often rest on pluralities or narrow majorities rather than strong field-wide agreement.
Inflationary paradigm in trouble after Planck2013
4 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.
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abstract
Recent results from the Planck satellite combined with earlier observations from WMAP, ACT, SPT and other experiments eliminate a wide spectrum of more complex inflationary models and favor models with a single scalar field, as reported by the Planck Collaboration. More important, though, is that all the simplest inflaton models are disfavored statistically relative to those with plateau-like potentials. We discuss how a restriction to plateau-like models has three independent serious drawbacks: it exacerbates both the initial conditions problem and the multiverse-unpredictability problem and it creates a new difficulty that we call the inflationary "unlikeliness problem." Finally, we comment on problems reconciling inflation with a standard model Higgs, as suggested by recent LHC results. In sum, we find that recent experimental data disfavors all the best-motivated inflationary scenarios and introduces new, serious difficulties that cut to the core of the inflationary paradigm. Forthcoming searches for B-modes, non-Gaussianity and new particles should be decisive.
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Wineglass wormholes, which can nucleate expanding baby universes, continuously connect to no-boundary instantons as their charge vanishes.
Final Planck CMB data confirms the flat 6-parameter ΛCDM model with Ω_c h² = 0.120 ± 0.001, Ω_b h² = 0.0224 ± 0.0001, n_s = 0.965 ± 0.004, τ = 0.054 ± 0.007, H_0 = 67.4 ± 0.5 km/s/Mpc, and no strong evidence for extensions.
Local HII galaxy and cosmic chronometer data favor the Rh=ct universe over ΛCDM at 92% vs 8% likelihood, with Rh=ct satisfying all energy conditions while ΛCDM violates the strong energy condition at z≲2.
citing papers explorer
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Big Mysteries Survey: Physicists' Views on Cosmology, Black Holes, Quantum Mechanics, and Quantum Gravity
A survey of physicists finds that claimed consensus positions on foundational topics often rest on pluralities or narrow majorities rather than strong field-wide agreement.
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Birth of Inflationary Universes via Wineglass Wormholes and their No-Boundary Relatives
Wineglass wormholes, which can nucleate expanding baby universes, continuously connect to no-boundary instantons as their charge vanishes.
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Planck 2018 results. VI. Cosmological parameters
Final Planck CMB data confirms the flat 6-parameter ΛCDM model with Ω_c h² = 0.120 ± 0.001, Ω_b h² = 0.0224 ± 0.0001, n_s = 0.965 ± 0.004, τ = 0.054 ± 0.007, H_0 = 67.4 ± 0.5 km/s/Mpc, and no strong evidence for extensions.
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The energy conditions and model selection in the local Universe
Local HII galaxy and cosmic chronometer data favor the Rh=ct universe over ΛCDM at 92% vs 8% likelihood, with Rh=ct satisfying all energy conditions while ΛCDM violates the strong energy condition at z≲2.