Inflation as Initialization of Two-Phase Information Settlement: A Unified Origin of Horizon, Flatness, and Primordial Perturbations

Abstract
Inflation theory provides a standard solution to the flatness, large-scale homogeneity, and primordial perturbation spectrum of the universe. However, the physical identity of the inflaton, the unfalsifiability of eternal inflation, and the mechanism by which quantum fluctuations become classical remain unresolved puzzles. This paper proposes a unified solution within the two-phase information conservation framework: inflation is the initialization phase of the information settlement network between the material phase (Ξ) and the information phase (Ω). The exponential expansion of the universe is driven by the high-density information potential required for network initialization. The horizon problem is resolved because initialization settlement ensures global causal connectivity and synchronization. The flatness problem is resolved because maximization of settlement efficiency requires a flat geometric background. Primordial perturbations are the “primordial information records” produced by initialization settlement events. The settlement network completes initialization in finite time, and eternal inflation is naturally terminated by the collapse operation of settlement. This framework reinterprets slow-roll parameters, e-folds, and the power spectrum as consequences of optimal settlement efficiency. We present three testable predictions: primordial gravitational wave B-mode polarization carrying initialization signatures, CMB low-multipole anomalies as initialization boundary effects, and a correlation between the inflation energy scale and the electroweak phase transition scale. This work unifies cosmic inflation with quantum measurement, black hole information, dark energy, quantum entanglement, the Higgs mechanism, absolute zero, the arrow of time, and matter-antimatter asymmetry under a single information settlement paradigm.
Keywords: inflation, information settlement, horizon problem, flatness problem, primordial perturbations, eternal inflation, primordial gravitational waves, CMB anomalies, two-phase information conservation