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Can Typicality Arguments Dissolve Cosmology’s Flatness Problem?

McCoy, C.D. (2017) Can Typicality Arguments Dissolve Cosmology’s Flatness Problem? Philosophy of Science, 84 (5). pp. 1239-1252.

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Abstract

The flatness problem in cosmology draws attention to a surprising fine-tuning of the spatial geometry of our universe towards flatness. Several physicists, among them Hawking, Page, Coule, and Carroll, have argued against the probabilistic intuitions underlying such fine-tuning arguments in cosmology and instead propose that the canonical measure on the phase space of Friedman-Robertson-Walker spacetimes should be used to evaluate fine-tuning. They claim that flat spacetimes in this set are actually typical on this natural measure and that therefore the flatness problem is illusory. I argue that they misinterpret typicality in this phase space and, moreover, that no conclusion can be drawn at all about the flatness problem by using the canonical measure alone.

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Item Type: Published Article or Volume
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
McCoy, C.D.casey.mccoy@ed.ac.uk0000-0002-7921-4911
Keywords: cosmology, inflation, typicality, flatness problem
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology
Depositing User: Dr. Casey McCoy
Date Deposited: 01 Mar 2018 21:14
Last Modified: 01 Mar 2018 21:14
Item ID: 14418
Journal or Publication Title: Philosophy of Science
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.1086/694109
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology
Date: 15 December 2017
Page Range: pp. 1239-1252
Volume: 84
Number: 5
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/14418

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