Inflationary Cosmology Revisited: An Overview of Contemporary Scientific Cosmology After the Inflationary Proposal

by Julio A. Gonzalo

Scientific Cosmology is clearly one of the most active physics research fields at present, and likely to remain so in the near future. Shortly after the pioneering cosmological work of Einstein, Georges Lemaitre proposed a model which some years later to be known as the big-bang model. In the early fifties an alternative proposal, the so called steady-state (expansion at constant density) model, became the fashionable model in prominent academic circles. The discovery of the cosmic background microwave radiation (Penzias & Wilson, 1965) made the steady-state model almost untenable. A quarter of a century later the inflationary model was proposed, becoming extraordinarily popular almost immediately. For some it seemed to combine attractive features of both the steady-state and the big-bang models, by postulating a very early violent (constant density) expansion during a very tiny fraction of a second.The book makes use of the best and most recent observational data, from the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE, 1992) to the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP, 2003), to discuss the merits and demerits of inflationary cosmology for a general readership acquainted with the basic facts of scientific cosmology. A complete Glossary and a detailed Index help the reader to follow controversial topics, such as dark matter, dark energy, cosmic flatness and accelerated expansion.

120 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Professor of Materials Physics at the Universidad Autónoma (Madrid)( 1978-2006).

At present he is research collaborator at UAM, and Professor Emeritus at the EPS- U. San Pablo CEU, Madrid. He worked as Senior Scientist in the PRNC (1962-1975) and as research collaborator in Brookhaven National Laboratory (1964-65).

Previously or simultaneously he was teacher or professor at the universities of Salamanca(1959-62), UPR Mayaguez(1962-75), UPR Río Piedras (1975-76),Puerto Rico, and Barcelona (1976-77).

President Asociacion Espanola Ciencia y Cultura:

Author of books on Phase Transitions, Solid State Spectroscopies, Ferroelectricity, Cosmology, Philosophy and History of Science, and on various other subjects like "Cursillos in Christianity,, " of which there are versions in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Korean.

He was elected member of the Advisory European (1979- ) and International(1981- ) Commitees on Ferroelectricity and Member of the advisory board of the international Journals "Ferroelectrics" and "Phase Transitions."

In 2003 he received the "Cruz de Alfonso X el Sabio", Encomienda de Caballero.

In 2006 he was made Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of the Basque Country, Bilbao (Spain)

He has been privileged to collaborate/publish with four Noble Prize Physics winners: K.A.Müller(Zurich), V.Ginzburg (Moscow) ,J.C.Mather (NASA) and G.F.Smoot (Berkeley).