Cosmic Inflation: How the Universe became locally flat and plentiful

TL;DR

This paper reviews how cosmic inflation explains the universe's flatness and abundance, discusses observational constraints, and explores its foundational aspects and potential fundamental theories.

Contribution

It provides a philosophical and theoretical discussion on the foundations of inflationary cosmology and its possible integration into more fundamental physics.

Findings

Observations support the inflationary paradigm.

Constraints challenge simple inflation models.

Discussion on the epistemological basis of the theory.

Abstract

The standard model of cosmology is based on the hot Big Bang theory and the inflationary paradigm. Recent precise observations of the temperature and polarization anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background and the matter distribution in large scale structures like galaxies and clusters confirm the general paradigm and put severe constrains on variations of this simple idea. In this essay I will discuss the epistemological foundations of such a paradigm and speculate on its possible realization within a more fundamental theory.