Inflation from quantum geometry.
Quantum geometry predicts that a universe evolves through an inflationary phase at small volume before exiting gracefully into a standard Friedmann phase. This does not require the introduction of additional matter fields with ad hoc potentials; rather, it occurs because of a quantum gravity modification of the kinetic part of ordinary matter Hamiltonians. An application of the same mechanism can explain why the present day cosmological acceleration is so tiny.
Bojowald
Martin
M
Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry, The Pennsylvania State University, 104 Davey Lab, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA. bojowald@gravity.psu.edu