(1) Alexander Vilenkin, “Cosmological Density Fluctuations Produced by a Goldstone Field”, in “Physical Review Letters” 48 No. 1 pp. 59–61, January 4, 1982. Original wrappers, with a repaired spine; rubber stamp on title page. Near-fine. $300
“Russian physicist Alexander Vilenkin (born 1949) argued in this paper (cited more than 1100 times) that the universe could have tunneled from “nothing,” eliminating the requirement for the pre-existence of empty space.” The tunneling state is the first state that exists.--David Wenner, History of Physics, the Wenner Collection.
“A cosmological model is proposed in which the Universe is created by quantum tunneling from "nothing" into a de Sitter space. The tunneling is described by a de Sitter—Hawking—Moss instanton. After the tunneling, the model evolves along the lines of the inflationary scenario. It is argued that at any time there exist parts of the Universe which are still in the de Sitter phase, while other parts have already recollapsed. This model does not have a big-bang singularity and does not require any initial or boundary conditions.”--Abstract from American Physical Society
Alexander Vilenkin,in an interview for the Tufts U website comments (for another, later, paper on 2003) on the state of the universe in the “before” time: “We looked at three possible scenarios—all of which, by the way, were suggested by the ancient Hindus 3,000 years ago. In one scenario, which the Hindus called “the eternal universe,” multiple beginnings are happening in different places. In scientific cosmology, this more or less corresponds to an idea called eternal inflation. In this case, the universe is expanding very fast, and then Big Bangs happen here and there. These Big Bangs are localized, in bubbles. As these bubbles—each containing a discrete universe—are driven apart, space opens up between them, where new bubbles are created. We live in one such bubble. [All of these universe-containing bubbles make up what cosmologists call the multiverse.] __+__Another idea is a cyclic universe, one that expands, collapses and then starts over again.__+__The third possibility, and the main focus of this paper that I wrote with my student, Audrey Mithani, is the emergent universe, a static universe that sits forever and then somehow bursts open and starts expanding. The Hindus called this “the cosmic egg.” You need some mechanism that will trigger this event, but that’s doable.” AND continuing: “I cannot really claim that I understand the beginning of the universe. We have a picture which kind of makes sense, which I think is an achievement. Because, if you think about it, you say, “OK, what happened before the Big Bang, before inflation?” It seems you can keep asking these questions and the answer is impossible.
But this quantum creation from “nothing” seems to avoid these questions. It has a nice mathematical description, not just words. There’s an interesting thing, though; the description of the creation of the universe from nothing is given in terms of the laws of physics. That makes you wonder, where are these laws? If the laws describe the creation of the universe, that suggests they existed prior to the universe. The question that nobody has any idea how to address is where these laws come from and why these laws in particular? So there are a lot of mysteries to keep us working.”
(2) Alexander Vilenkin, “Birth of Inflationary Universes” in “Physical Review D” 27 No. 12 pp. 2848–2855, June 15, 1983. Back repaired. Stamp and stickers on front wrapper. $300
“Eternal inflation” (new inflation that continues indefinitely) was proposed in 1982 and 1983 by Steinhardt Alexander Vilenkin (born 1949). In eternal inflation, multiple regions of simultaneous inflation create “bubble” or “pocket” universes, each of which creates new inflation, a process that continues ad infinitum. In this theory, our universe is only one of an infinite number of pocket universes that are eternally being created by the continuation of the inflation that created our universe.”--David Wenner, History of Physics, the Wenner Collection.
“A cosmological model is proposed in which the Universe is created by quantum tunneling from "nothing" into a de Sitter space. The tunneling is described by a de Sitter—Hawking—Moss instanton. After the tunneling, the model evolves along the lines of the inflationary scenario. It is argued that at any time there exist parts of the Universe which are still in the de Sitter phase, while other parts have already recollapsed. This model does not have a big-bang singularity and does not require any initial or boundary conditions.” Abstract via American Physical Society.
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