{
  "abstract": "We show that cosmological models with a semi-infinite phase of slow contraction (ekpyrosis) possess a combination of properties that can address several fundamental problems in cosmology, otherwise faced in contracting de Sitter phases or standard big bang expansion. In particular, slow contraction admits a stable past attractor asymptoting to Minkowski space, as well as a stable, flat, homogeneous, and isotropic future attractor with negligible Weyl curvature (and, therefore, negligible gravitational entropy). In bouncing cosmologies, this contracting attractor is terminated by a smooth, non-singular bounce that transforms the attractor properties at the end of contraction into the initial conditions for the subsequent expanding phase. Cosmologies incorporating a slow contraction phase have no particle horizon and therefore avoid the causal horizon problem. The past Minkowski attractor also generates an initial spectrum of vacuum-like quantum fluctuations on all wavelengths. Moreover, because the averaged expansion rate along past-directed geodesics is non-positive, models incorporating a semi-infinite phase of slow contraction also evade the Borde,Guth and Vilenkin theorem and are past geodesically complete. By contrast, contracting de Sitter space possesses a finite particle horizon and becomes unstable in the presence of scalar fields, matter, or radiation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2607.07815",
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Mariam Khaldieh"
    },
    {
      "name": "Anna I. Rosenzweig"
    },
    {
      "name": "Paul J. Steinhardt"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1x8tjzy2thbrb.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2607.07815",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "1x8tjzy2thbrb",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.07815",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.CO"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "gr-qc"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.07815",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-01",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1x8tjzy2thbrb.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:00Z",
      "native_id": "2607.07815",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.07815"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.CO",
      "subfield": "cosmology"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:gr-qc",
      "subfield": "gravitation"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Causal Horizons, Geodesic Completeness and Stability in Slow Contraction Cosmology",
  "title_text": "Causal Horizons, Geodesic Completeness and Stability in Slow Contraction Cosmology",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:00Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/1x8tjzy2thbrb",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}