13th Nov, 4:00 pm (CET): In the context of VIRTUAL LAB 4, Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar (Utrecht University) will give a talk titled “Another Critical Look at Inflationary Cosmology”. The talk will last approximately 40 minutes and it will take place online.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81835156467?pwd=inADRqjxflg4seKX4SHA3l8edjWtRh.1
Abstract
In this talk, we undertake a critical analysis of the research program of inflationary cosmology, with particular emphasis on the epistemological transformations of the past twenty-five years. Our discussion is structured around three central aspects. First, we examine its explanatory function within the $\Lambda$ CDM model, which stands in contrast to other components of the model, such as recombination physics or dark energy. Second, we assess the advances achieved by the program in the context of precision cosmology. Third, we delineate the mathematical framework that underpins inflation. On this basis, we argue that inflation cannot, in its present formulation, be regarded as an autonomous dynamical theory. Nonetheless, it provides a number of significant features that serve as exploratory tools for linking novel theoretical frameworks—for instance, string theory—with cosmological observations. In this respect, inflation may be compared to the case of special relativity, which, while “parasitic” in the sense of requiring a more comprehensive dynamical foundation, nevertheless possessed a degree of autonomy: it could be subjected to empirical testing and functioned as a vehicle for the discovery of new physics.