[论文解读] Particle Physics and Inflationary Cosmology

Andrei Linde|arXiv (Cornell University)|Mar 26, 2005

Cosmology and Gravitation Theories被引用 6

一句话总结

这本奠基性著作通过暴胀宇宙理论的视角，将粒子物理学与宇宙学融为一体，提出在快速早期膨胀阶段的量子涨落催生了大尺度结构。它展示了通过大统一理论与规范对称性自发破缺如何构建暴胀的理论框架，从而形成一个平坦、均匀的宇宙，与观测结果一致——为微观与宏观物理提供了统一图景。

ABSTRACT

This is the LaTeX version of my book "Particle Physics and Inflationary Cosmology'' (Harwood, Chur, Switzerland, 1990). I decided to put it to hep-th, to make it easily available. Many things happened during the 15 years since the time when it was written. In particular, we have learned a lot about the high temperature behavior in the electroweak theory and about baryogenesis. A discovery of the acceleration of the universe has changed the way we are thinking about the problem of the vacuum energy: Instead of trying to explain why it is zero, we are trying to understand why it is anomalously small. Recent cosmological observations have shown that the universe is flat, or almost exactly flat, and confirmed many other predictions of inflationary theory. Many new versions of this theory have been developed, including hybrid inflation and inflationary models based on string theory. There was a substantial progress in the theory of reheating of the universe after inflation, and in the theory of eternal inflation. It's clear, therefore, that some parts of the book should be updated, which I might do sometimes in the future. I hope, however, that this book may be of some interest even in its original form. I am using it in my lectures on inflationary cosmology at Stanford, supplementing it with the discussion of the subjects mentioned above. I would suggest to read this book in parallel with the book by Liddle and Lyth "Cosmological Inflation and Large Scale Structure,'' with the book by Mukhanov "Physical Foundations of Cosmology,'' to be published soon, and with my review article hep-th/0503195, which contains a discussion of some (but certainly not all) of the recent developments in inflationary theory.

研究动机与目标

• 建立高能粒子物理学与宇宙现象之间的理论桥梁，特别是宇宙大尺度结构的起源。
• 证明在统一规范理论中的规范对称性自发破缺可导致指数膨胀时期（暴胀）。
• 表明暴胀可解决平坦性、视界与磁单极子等关键宇宙学问题。
• 探讨暴胀对真空能量、重子生成以及多元宇宙情景的启示。
• 提供一个利用高能下量子场论与引力理论理解早期宇宙的框架。

提出的方法

• 利用具有规范对称性自发破缺的大统一理论（GUTs）来描述早期宇宙中的相变。
• 应用弯曲时空中的量子场论来模拟驱动指数膨胀的标量场（如暴胀子场）。
• 结合量子色动力学（QCD）中的渐近自由特性，描述超致密物质在高温下的行为。
• 采用虚假真空衰变与泡核化概念，通过相变建模暴胀的启动。
• 分析暴胀后重加热的动力学，将粒子产生与宇宙的热历史联系起来。
• 讨论基于暴胀子场中量子涨落的永恒暴胀与多元宇宙的启示。

实验结果

研究问题

• RQ1 统一规范理论中的规范对称性自发破缺如何导致早期宇宙的指数膨胀时期？
• RQ2 标量场的量子涨落如何在原初密度扰动中起作用，从而解释宇宙微波背景中观测到的各向异性？
• RQ3 暴胀如何解决标准大爆炸模型中的视界、平坦性与磁单极子问题？
• RQ4 高能物理——特别是渐近自由与GUT尺度相变——对早期宇宙的热历史与结构形成有何启示？
• RQ5 从暴胀子场中的量子涨落如何产生永恒暴胀概念？这对多元宇宙的全局结构有何含义？

主要发现

• 暴胀通过指数膨胀一个微小的、因果相连的区域，自然解决了视界、平坦性与磁单极子问题。
• 暴胀期间暴胀子场的量子涨落生成了原初密度扰动，这些扰动成为大尺度结构与宇宙微波背景各向异性的种子。
• 该理论预测扰动谱近乎尺度不变，与COBE、WMAP及后续任务的观测结果一致。
• 宇宙被预测为空间平坦或近乎平坦，该预测已由现代宇宙学数据证实。
• 暴胀动力学允许在虚假真空阶段之后实现宇宙的重加热，从而导致热大爆炸与热平衡化。
• 该框架表明，某些区域的宇宙可能持续暴胀，导致多元宇宙中不同区域具有不同的低能物理规律。