Date of Submission

Fall 2015

Academic Programs and Concentrations

Physics

Project Advisor 1

Matthew Deady

Project Advisor 2

Eleni Alexandra-Kontou, and Hal Haggard

Abstract/Artist's Statement

In this paper I lay the groundwork for an alternative model for the contemporary expansion of the universe. The current model states that the universe is growing exponentially due to the vacuum of space pulling on it. This model states that the growth rate of the universe is linear in time. However in 1998, researchers suggested that the expansion rate of the universe is accelerating. This means the universe is not expanding logarithmically, not linearly. In my model, I lay the groundwork for future research and suggest that the universe develops in time in accordance to a Gaussian scale factor and gives a contemporary inflation. This theoretical change has many consequences. It may seem that the universe should continue to expand at an accelerating rate forever; however, my paper suggests that after expanding the universe will eventually slow, stop and reverse, and compress back into a single point after expanding. Second, my paper claims that a scalar field driven by dark energy is the causal mechanism for the universe's inflation. This scalar field is homogeneous and grows linearly in time. Finally, my paper claims that primordial inflation fits within my model, as it can predict CMB temperature fluctuations. My model challenges the theory that vacuum energy drives the universe's current expansion and that quantum perturbations drive primordial inflation.

Open Access Agreement

Open Access

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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