Knotty inflation and the dimensionality of spacetime

TL;DR

This paper proposes that a network of knotted flux tubes formed during a cosmological phase transition can drive inflation and explains why our universe has exactly three large spatial dimensions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel topological model linking flux tube networks to inflation and the dimensionality of spacetime.

Findings

The flux tube network can sustain inflationary expansion.

Topological stability of the network occurs only in three dimensions.

The model provides a dynamical reason for three large spatial dimensions.

Abstract

We suggest a structure for the vacuum comprised of a network of tightly knotted/linked flux tubes formed in a QCD-like cosmological phase transition and show that such a network can drive cosmological inflation. As the network can be topologically stable only in three space dimensions, this scenario provides a dynamical explanation for the existence of exactly three large spatial dimensions in our Universe.