THE RETURN OF THE PHOENIX UNIVERSE

JEAN-LUC LEHNERS, PAUL J. STEINHARDT, NEIL TUROK
2009 International Journal of Modern Physics D  
Georges Lemaitre introduced the term "phoenix universe" to describe an oscillatory cosmology with alternating periods of gravitational collapse and expansion. This model is ruled out observationally because it requires a supercritical mass density and cannot accommodate dark energy. However, a new cyclic theory of the universe has been proposed that evades these problems. In a recent elaboration of this picture, almost the entire universe observed today is fated to become entrapped inside black
more » ... holes, but a tiny region will emerge from these ashes like a phoenix to form an even larger smooth, flat universe filled with galaxies, stars, planets, and, presumably, life. Survival depends crucially on dark energy and suggests a reason why its density is small and positive today.
doi:10.1142/s0218271809015977 fatcat:q6phk2ucpzgftkvnjghsn3fnpu