Among the exciting events of recent years has been the mounting evidence that the very early universe underwent a period of accelerated expansion known as "primordial inflation". During primordial inflation there is a vast enhancement of quantum effects, which are ordinarily very small. Another significant feature of primordial inflation is that these quantum effects become fossilized so that they can be detected by current observers. The goals of this study are, among others, to work out how quantum effects arise from primordial inflation, to settle the long-standing controversy over whether or not the self-gravitation of particles produced during inflation can slow down the expansion of the universe and to investigate modified gravity theories which might describe the current universe.
Such a study is interesting because there is a vast reservoir of largely untapped data in the radiation from the very early structures which can be seen at great distances. This data offers sensitivity to energy scales and physical laws far beyond those that can be reached in accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider. This project will promote teaching, training and learning. To this end, the PI will continue serving as a host in the University of Florida's Junior Science, Engineering and Humanities Symposium. These presentations typically involve simple explanations of, for example, why galactic rotation curves suggest dark matter. Then the PI discusses how students can prepare for a career in theoretical physics. The PI will also continue to deliver colloquia based on his 2009 review article, "How Far Are We from the Quantum Theory of Gravity?" in Reports on Progress in Physics. These colloquia are accessible to interested but non-specialist physicists, and to graduate students new to the field.
