de Sitter equilibrium as a fundamental framework for cosmology

Abstract

Cosmology might turn out to be the study of fluctuations around a "de Sitter equilibrium" state. In this article I review the basic ideas and the attractive features of this framework, and respond to a number common questions raised about the de Sitter equilibrium picture. I show that this framework does not suffer from the "Boltzmann Brain" problem, and relate this cosmological picture to recent work on the "clock ambiguity".