A Cosmological Bounce?
In an article published in Scientific American recently by Loeb and Steinhardt, the authors pointed out serious problems with the hypothetical Inflationary Scenario. Moreover, they asserted that the bounce cosmological paradigm does not require Inflation to explain cosmological observations, such as the most recent Planck results. In addition, they noted that classical physics (i.e., General Relativity) applied prior to the bounce, that the bounce would occur before any weird quantum or even more exotic physics came into play, and remained classical after the bounce. In this paradigm classical physics, which does not require exotic hypotheses and assumptions, applied before, during and after the current expansion of the observable universe began. This is an exciting new cosmological paradigm that is based on well-tested physics and is relatively free of the need for magical thinking.
RLO