(iv) mul­ti­verse prob­lems—infla­tion gener­i­cally leads to eternal infla­tion [10–13] and a mul­ti­verse [14–19]

As noted in the Introduction, because we are describing a com­plete model of the uni­verse that includes novel com­po­nents that each need to be explained, and, as with any com­plete cos­mo­log­ical scenario, involves many stages and transitions, even a broad overview like the one in this sec­tion can seem complicated. It’s a sum­mary in a nutshell, but for a very big nut!

Bounce with me

Here’s a physics paper with a title that’s almost Tom Wolfe-ish: Instant Folded Strings, Dark Energy and a Cyclic Bouncing Universe.

Love the list of prob­lems asso­ci­ated with the infla­tionary model, including

A person really ought to spend at least a little bit of their time wondering, “what IS the uni­verse?”—even with the knowl­edge that the words “what” and “is” are cer­tainly leading them astray. Prob­ably also “uni­verse”.

Great graf: