The Inflationary Origin of the Seeds of Cosmic Structure: Quantum Theory and the Need for Novel Physics

Abstract

The Inflationary account for the emerging of the seeds of cosmic structure from quantum fluctuations is a central part of our current views of cosmology. It is, on the one hand, extremely successful at the phenomenological level, and yet, it retains an aspect that is generally regarded as controversial: The exact mechanism by which quantum fluctuations transmute into actual inhomogeneities. We will review the considerations that lead us to conclude that the fully satisfactory resolution of the issue requires novel physics, and we will discuss an option we have been considering in this regard.