An Infinity of Worlds: Cosmic Inflation and the Beginning of the Universe

Contents\nPreface\n1: The Beginning of the World\n	The Cosmological Principle\n	A Boundary in Time\n2: The Standard Cosmological Model\n	Expansion and the Big Bang\n	Cosmic History: Matter, Vacuum, and Light\n	A Cosmic Time Line\n3: The Cosmic Horizon\n	The Limit of Vision\n	The Horizon Problem\n	Primordial Anisotropy\n	Curvature and the Flatness Problem\n	Cosmic Mysteries\n4: The Physics of Nothing\n	Vacuum Energy and Cosmic Acceleration\n	Inflation\n	Instability and Symmetry Breaking\n	The Inflaton\n	Slow Roll and Reheating\n5: The Quantum Vacuum and Cosmic Structure\n	The Quantum Vacuum\n	Primordial Perturbations\n6: Testing Inflation\n	The Big Picture\n	Superhorizon Perturbations\n	Primordial Gravitational Waves\n	Scale Invariance: The Zoo Plot\n	Future Tests: Consistency Relations\n	Variations on a Theme\n7: Eternal Inflation and the Multiverse\n	Eternal Inflation\n	The Multiverse in String Theory\n	The Anthropic Principle\n8: Just So Stories\n	What Inflation Doesn’t Explain\n	Alternatives to Inflation\n	The Beginning\nAcknowledgments\nGlossary\nFurther Reading\nNotes\n	Chapter 1\n	Chapter 2\n	Chapter 3\n	Chapter 4\n	Chapter 5\n	Chapter 6\n	Chapter 7\n	Chapter 8\n	Further Reading\nIndex