Abstract
The eternal inflation scenario predicts that our observable Universe resides inside a single bubble embedded in a vast inflating multiverse. We present the first observational tests of eternal inflation, performing a search for cosmological signatures of collisions with other bubble universes in cosmic microwave background data from the WMAP satellite. We conclude that the WMAP 7-year data do not warrant augmenting the cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant with bubble collisions, constraining the average number of detectable bubble collisions on the full sky at 68% C.L. Data from the Planck satellite can be used to more definitively test the bubble-collision hypothesis.
- Received 27 December 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.071301
© 2011 American Physical Society
Synopsis
Collisions on the sky
Published 8 August 2011
Cosmic microwave background data have been combed for evidence of bubble universe collisions that might signal the existence of eternal inflation.
See more in Physics