A monograph on inflationary cosmology and cosmological phase transitions, investigating modern cosmology's relationship to elementary particle physics. This work also includes a non-technical discussion of inflationary cosmology for those unfamiliar with the theory.
Preface to the Series
Introduction
Overview of Unified Theories of Elementary Particles and the Inflationary Universe Scenario
The scalar field and spontaneous symmetry breaking
Phase transitions in gauge theories
Hot universe theory
Some properties of the Friedmann models
Problems of the standard scenario
A sketch of the development of the inflationary universe scenario
The chaotic inflation scenario
The self-regenerating universe
Summary
Scalar Field, Effective Potential, and Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking
Classical and quantum scalar fields
Quantum corrections to the effective potential V( II' )
The liN expansion and the effective potential of the AIP/N theory
The effective potential and quantum gravitational effects
Restoration of Symmetry at High Temperature
Phase transitions in the simplest models with spontaneous symmetry breaking
Phase transitions in realistic theories of the weak, strong, and electromagnetic interactions
Higher-order perturbation theory and the infrared problem in the thermodynamics of gauge fields
Phase Transitions in Cold Superdense Matter
Restoration of symmetry in theories with no neutral currents
Enhancement of symmetry breaking and the condensation of vector mesons in theories with neutral currents
Tunneling Theory and the Decay of a Metastable Phase in a First-Order Phase Transition
General theory of the formation of bubbles of a new phase
The thin-wall approximation
Beyond the thin-wall approximation
Phase Transitions in a Hot Universe
Phase transitions with symmetry breaking between the weak, strong, and electromagnetic interactions
Domain walls, strings, and monopoles
General Principles of Inflationary Cosmology
Introduction
The inflationary universe and de Sitter space
Quantum fluctuations in the inflationary universe
Tunneling in the inflationary universe
Quantum fluctuations and the generation of adiabatic density perturbations
Are scale-free adiabatic perturbations sufficient to produce the observed largescale structure of the niverse?
Isothermal perturbations and adiabatic perturbations with a nonflat spectrum
Nonperturbative effects: strings, hedgehogs, walls, bubbles, . . .
Reheating of the universe after inflation
The origin of the baryon asymmetry of the universe
The New Inflationary Universe Scenario
Introduction. The old inflationary universe scenario
The Coleman-Weinberg SU() theory and the new inflationary universe scenario (initial simplified version)
Refinement of the new inflationary universe scenario
Primordial inflation in N = 1ยท supergravity
The Shafi-Vilenkin model
The new inflationary universe scenario: problems and prospects
The Chaotic Inflation Scenario
Introduction. Basic features of the scenario. The question of initial conditions
The simplest model based on the SU(5) theory
Chaotic inflation in supergravity
The modified Starobinsky model and the combined scenario
Inflation in Kaluza-Klein and superstring theories
Inflation and Quantum Cosmology
The wave function of the universe
Quantum cosmology and the global structure of the inflationary universe
The self-regenerating inflationary universe and quantum cosmology
The global structure of the inflationary universe and the problem of the general cosmological singularity
Inflation and the Anthropic Principle
Quantum cosmology and the signature of space-time
The cosmological constant, the Anthropic Principle, reduplication of the universe and life after inflation
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
SUBJECT INDEX
Biography
Dr. Andrei Linde was educated at Moscow State University and the Lebedev Physical Institute. He has been at the forefront of the theoretical research in physics for nearly two decades. It has a recipient of the Lomonosov award of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and was a Morris Loeb Lecturer in Physics at Harvard University. Currently he is a Professor of Physics at Lebedev Physical Institute and a staff member of CERN, Geneva. Translated from Russian by Marc Damashek.
