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A Cyclic Model of the Universe

2002; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 296; Issue: 5572 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.1070462

1095-9203

Paul J. Steinhardt, Neil Turok,

Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution

We propose a cosmological model in which the universe undergoes an endless sequence of cosmic epochs each beginning with a `bang' and ending in a `crunch.' The temperature and density are finite at each transition from crunch to bang. Instead of having an inflationary epoch, each cycle includes a period of slow accelerated expansion (as recently observed) followed by slow contraction. The combination produces the homogeneity, flatness, density fluctuations and energy needed to begin the next cycle.