New theory of the early Universe

[windy miller]

Cumrun Vafa and colleagues have recently posted a new theory of the early universe in the paper:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.10077
If anyone could explain the main themes of the paper in laymen friendly manner that would be really appreciated. In particular
what is topological gravity ? how is this model different from string gas cosmology? any other thoughts most welcome.

 

[StandardsGuy]

I'm not the best one to answer, as I have never heard of it. This Wikipedia post may be of help. It references Edward Witten's book or paper on the subject.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(2+1)-dimensional_topological_gravity