What experimental results would falsify inflation theory?
Simply put, inflation seems antithetical to good science theory.
A process that starts at exactly the right time, is of exactly the right magnitude, and lasts for exactly the correct period of time required to explain observational results. Without recurring, without a testable triggering event, without a testable mechanism for ceasing at the correct timescales needed to explain CMB results.
Something untestable that exists solely to plug into your equations to explain what's otherwise an anomaly (CMB uniformity), it's the definition of a mathematical cheat. To be sound theory it must be falsifiable (not just infinitely modifiable). My concern is that once something can't be falsified, we're setting ourselves up for generations of anchoring, where new ideas can't find a foothold because bad theory is taken as a necessary starting point for students entering the field.
What would have to happen for us to abandon inflation theory and pursue another avenue?
