Radiation Driven Inflation

A novel scalar field free approach to cosmic inflation is presented. The inflationary Universe and the radiation dominated Universe are shown, within the framework of unified brane cosmology, to be two different phases governed by one and the same energy density. The phase transition of second order (the Hubble constant exhibits a finite jump) appears naturally and serves as the exit mechanism. No re-heating is needed. The required number of e-folds is achieved without fine tuning.