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arXiv:1204.4658hep-th

Did the universe have a beginning?

Audrey Mithani, Alexander Vilenkin

Early discovery. Linked by one identifiable commenter. This paper is outside the main ranking; a mention is not an endorsement.

Abstract

We discuss three candidate scenarios which seem to allow the possibility that the universe could have existed forever with no initial singularity: eternal infation, cyclic evolution, and the emergent universe. The first two of these scenarios are geodesically incomplete to the past, and thus cannot describe a universe without a beginning. The third, although it is stable with respect to classical perturbations, can collapse quantum mechanically, and therefore cannot have an eternal past.

arXiv comments
6 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of the 10th Incternational Conference on Gravitation, Astrophysics and Cosmology, Quy-Nhon, Vietnam, December 2011
Journal reference
DOI
Subjects
hep-thHigh Energy Physics, Theory gr-qcGeneral Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

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Linked by 1 identifiable commenter in 1 comment across 1 thread, from Apr 2012 to Apr 2012. Found in 2 HN submissions from Apr 2012 to Oct 2026. Open submission discussions.

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  1. Mathematics of Eternity Prove The Universe Must Have Had A Beginning 1 comment

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