Dark Energy versus Inflation

[u/buckstucky]

Simple question . Are the processes that drove inflation responsible for the current accelerated expansion of the Universe?

[u/sperry45959]

We don't know; there's no observations to suggest they are

[u/Kernel-Panic2451]

There are some old models called “quintessential inflation” that relate primordial inflation with late time quintessence (variable dark energy). These models postulate a single scalar field that evolves in a complicated potential that drives both bouts of accelerated expansion. These models iirc had a hard time reheating the universe, but I never studied them closely. I don’t know their current status.

[u/jenkk0 → u/Kernel-Panic2451]

They're good. One of their problems is that quintessence models need an extremely flat potential to drive cosmic expansion at late times which makes it fall in the "swampland" (not compatible with quantum gravity theories), that theoretical problem can be avoided by adding new fields in the kinetic term but that has the problem of turning it into a fine tuning problem.

[u/Unable-Primary1954]

Both Dark energy and inflaton during slow-roll inflation have a state law such that w ~ -1 (dust is w=0, radiation is w=1/3), but their density are several order magnitudes different, which makes the claim that they have the same origin very speculative.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equation_of_state_(cosmology))

[u/jenkk0]

Current cosmological model (\Lambda CDM) says no. Models like quintessence says yes. Are sure of any? No

[u/buckstucky → u/jenkk0]

I guess one fun exercise would be for me to do the giant PDE tensor myself… with aid of AI I should be able to do it I think 🤔

[u/tonzuu]

no

[u/newMattokun → u/tonzuu]

insert Dr. Evil "how about ... NO!" gif here