what was the SOL during inflation?

[speedfreek]

A few links to papers that may be relevant here.

Inflation and the Cosmic Microwave Background - Charles H. Lineweaver, 2003

Abstract:

I present a pedagogical review of inflation and the cosmic microwave background. I describe how a short period of accelerated expansion can replace the special initial conditions of the standard big bang model. I also describe the development of CMBology: the study of the cosmic microwave background. This cool (3 K) new cosmological tool is an increasingly precise rival and complement to many other methods in the race to determine the parameters of the Universe: its age, size, composition and detailed evolution.


Expanding Confusion: common misconceptions of cosmological horizons and the superluminal expansion of the Universe
- Tamara M. Davis, Charles H. Lineweaver, 2003

Abstract:

We use standard general relativity to illustrate and clarify several common misconceptions about the expansion of the Universe. To show the abundance of these misconceptions we cite numerous misleading, or easily misinterpreted, statements in the literature. In the context of the new standard Lambda-CDM cosmology we point out confusions regarding the particle horizon, the event horizon, the ``observable universe'' and the Hubble sphere (distance at which recession velocity = c). We show that we can observe galaxies that have, and always have had, recession velocities greater than the speed of light. We explain why this does not violate special relativity and we link these concepts to observational tests. Attempts to restrict recession velocities to less than the speed of light require a special relativistic interpretation of cosmological redshifts. We analyze apparent magnitudes of supernovae and observationally rule out the special relativistic Doppler interpretation of cosmological redshifts at a confidence level of 23 sigma.

[tommac]

Yawn ...

I am unfamiliar with "chaotic inflation", can you clarify please?

A simple query on ADS ("inflation" in the title, published between 2000 and 2008) brings up >3000 entries.

Now not all of these are papers, and not all the papers are all that pertinent; further, among the >1000 papers (that's a guess) which are, perhaps only a dozen or so cover distinct models or theories.

Care to choose a couple, from among these?

Would you like some help with how to search using ADS, to find published papers on inflation?

[Neverfly]

Yawn ...

Nice response to someone having offered to help you, Tommac.

[tommac]

Could the speed of light and the expansion of the universe work in tandem to keep the topography of the universe flat?

[tommac]

Nice response to someone having offered to help you, Tommac.

I must apologize if it came off rude.

[tommac]

Who says it has always been constant? We dont even know why it is what it is but we are sure it has always been that way?

Is it just a ratio of energy to mass? sr(e/m) maybe that ratio changes in extreme energy states ( like when energy is compressed into a near infinite density ) ... Does this also hold true on the atomic level?

Maybe the SOL is just natures way of keeping space-time relatively flat? When it is too compressed ... the speed of light gets faster to allow a release of energy? How about if the entire universe was compacted inside 1 cubic plank length


Is the consensus answer to my question is that the SOL has always been exactly what it is today?

I'm with you, Hornblower. I was wondering why tommac wanted to know the statute of limitations during inflation. I figured it would be about 10^-32 seconds, so one better get that case filed in a hurry.



Oh, the speed of light? Currently considered as one of the very few absolute constants of nature, why would you, tommac, think it might be any different during inflation?

[speedfreek]

Who says it has always been constant? We dont even know why it is what it is but we are sure it has always been that way?

Is the consensus answer to my question is that the SOL has always been exactly what it is today?

From Curious About Astronomy?

Did the speed of light change over the history of the universe?

How will a change in the speed of light affect the evolution of the Universe?

[Neverfly]

I must apologize if it came off rude.

It did. You reacted in similar manner when you started a thread in About BAUT

Just food for thought- Now back to regularly scheduled programming...

[Nereid]

Who says it has always been constant? We dont even know why it is what it is but we are sure it has always been that way?

Is it just a ratio of energy to mass? sr(e/m) maybe that ratio changes in extreme energy states ( like when energy is compressed into a near infinite density ) ... Does this also hold true on the atomic level?

Maybe the SOL is just natures way of keeping space-time relatively flat? When it is too compressed ... the speed of light gets faster to allow a release of energy? How about if the entire universe was compacted inside 1 cubic plank length


Is the consensus answer to my question is that the SOL has always been exactly what it is today?

tommac, do you have trouble reading?

I ask this in all seriousness, because this post of yours, that I am quoting, contains several statements that seem to reflect either a complete non-comprehension of others' posts, earlier in this thread, or (perhaps) a deliberate avoidance of them (I hope not).

Could I suggest that you take the trouble to read the posts in this thread, slowly and carefully, and where you don't understand the answers, ask further - simple, direct - questions to clarify your lack of understanding?

[tommac]

Let me reword my OP?

Why is the speed of light constant?
Could the inflation period be explained with a varying speed of light?
Can the SOL vary based on a resistance in the ether?

[Drunk Vegan]

Careful how much you work out guys.

There's a theory that if the universe were properly understood, it would immediately be replaced by something more complicated and infinitely more bizarre.

There is another theory that states that this has already happened.

[Nereid]

Let me reword my OP?

OK

Why is the speed of light constant?

I do hope that Ken G stops by soon, and gives a version of his excellent "what physics is and what its relationship to the universe is"!

The best, simple, answer I can give to this question has two parts:

a) because General Relativity (GR) seems to explain all the relevant observations and experimental results (within its domain of applicability)

AND

b) the "speed of light" is constant within GR (caveat: check the definition carefully)

Could the inflation period be explained with a varying speed of light?

Are you asking about the specific theories/models of inflation, published in the relevant, peer-reviewed journals to date, either as a class of theory/model or something else? If so, then my guess is almost certainly not ... because no such theory or model has been published.

There is at least one cosmologically-relevant theory in which there is a variable (or double) speed of light, but IIRC it couldn't really be said to overlap with inflation ... but I could be wrong (I'll check).

OTOH, if you asking about the possibility that some model or theory, which could be labelled "inflation", could incorporate a varying speed of light, then the only possible answer is "yes".

Can the SOL vary based on a resistance in the ether?

What "ether" are you referring to here?

Per GR, light (more generally, massless particles) does not need a medium in order to propagate ...

[Nereid]

This Wikipedia page is as good a place to start as any (usual caveats apply, of course), esp wrt the references.

An extract:

The varying speed of light cosmology has been proposed independently by Jean-Pierre Petit from 1988[17][18][19][20] and then John Moffat in 1992[21] and the two-man team of Andreas Albrecht and Joćo Magueijo in 1998[22][23][24][25][26][27] to explain the horizon problem of cosmology and propose an alternative to cosmic inflation.

Magueijo's VSL ideas are perhaps the best known.

I have not been following this closely enough to have an opinion on how well any of these VSL ideas can account for, say, the WMAP5 observations.

[Nereid]

Here's a recent post by Tim Thompson that might help you, tommac, understand the purpose and scope of science, especially cosmology:

We look at the universe in extraordinary detail, and then we make up a story that explains why the universe looks the way it does. We require our story to be entirely self consistent and entirely consistent with everything we know about physics, to the best of our ability to do so. We are not 100% successful, witness the failure of general relativistic cosmology to conserve energy globally. That may be revealing of a deep truth about the universe, or it may be revealing of our own ignorance. We do know that if there was inflation, then it would explain what we see. We do know that if there was a bang, then it would explain what we see. So we don't know why either happened, nor do we know that either actually happened at all. We do not know that either is existentially true, we know only that both make our cosmological models work better, so we include them in our story of the universe.

[Lepton]

Can the SOL vary based on a resistance in the ether?

Is this the 19th century?

[tommac]

What "ether" are you referring to here?

Per GR, light (more generally, massless particles) does not need a medium in order to propagate ...

By ether I mean the fabric of space-time.