Delayed Inflation of a Closed Cosmological Model Driven by the False Vacuum in Five Dimensions

Abstract

An inflationary cosmology in five dimensions is discussed that has the unique feature that if initial conditions are tuned appropriately with the values of the unstable maximum of the Higgs potential the universe is trapped in a Lemaitre-type equilibrium point after which it expands in an exponential manner. Such a quasi-static intermediate point may be responsible for the homogeneity of the universe at late times.