Notes from the convener

Context and big questions:

Inflation is the most important idea in cosmology since Gamow's hot big bang. It (together with advances in technology) has driven the last thirty years of spectacular progress in our understanding of the Universe, by spurring new observations, providing the theoretical framework for interpreting them, and standing as the theoretical foundation for the earliest moments of the Universe. Nonetheless, having said all those good words, with the evidence at hand we cannot yet say that the Universe actually inflated when it was xx sec old or that we have a standard model of inflation and how it fits into modern particle theory. Contrast this with other key physics elements of modern cosmology -- BBN, the CMB or the CDM theory of structure formation, which are supported by both cosmological observations and laboratory measurements. Further, as important as inflation is, it has its conceptual shortcomings (e.g., does not address the initial singularity, there are ambiguities in its predictions, there is no fundamental model of inflation and its nightmare gift -- the multiverse). Thirty years since its inception, inflation is clearly at a crossroads.

Here are some big questions that I hope this session will address:

1. How close are we to a standard model of inflation? (i.e., something akin to Weinberg's standard model of cosmology, announced fifty years ago)

2. What are the key features and tests of the inflationary paradigm?

3. What will be required to make inflation part of the well established (i.e., evidence based) history of the Universe (like BBN, CMB, CDM, ...)?

4. Where does inflation fit in modern particle theory? or is it destined to be just a sector of the far away grander theory?

5. Do we have an alternative that is as predictive and expansive as inflation and cannot be re-framed as yet another example of inflation (and thus a worthy competitor)? and if not, why not?

6. What are the key discriminants between inflation and alternatives -- and how discriminating are they?

7. What are the implications (if any) of the Higgs boson discovery, the SUSY nondiscovery and other LHC results for inflation?

8. Can you have inflation without the multiverse (and vice versa)? Actually,can we skip the multiverse discussion?