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Paper: What if the Dark Energy is from the End of Inflation?
Volume: 379, Cosmic Frontiers
Page: 296
Authors: Fong, R.
Abstract: Here, we explore the possible consequences if the observed dark energy is simply the cosmological constant. As inflationary theory implies a coherent vacuum within a finite ‘patch’, we propose to treat it as a quantum object of finite size. Now, the natural transition of the vacuum at the end of inflation is to its ground state, the energy of which is constrained by the Uncertainty Principle. Identifying it with the observed dark energy gives an estimate of the size of this patch as ~ 10−2 cm. Basically, the same result follows from a dimensional analysis and shows that there is, at least, a large quantum coherence length of ~ 10−2 cm at the end of inflation, itself supporting the basic idea of inflation. Possible extensions to this very simple picture are discussed.
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