Proposed physical mechanism that gives rise to cosmic inflation

Early in the Universe a chemical equilibrium exists between photons and electron-positron (e(-)e(+)) pairs. In the electron Born self-energy (eBse) model the e(-)e(+) plasma falls out of equilibrium above a glass transition temperature T-G=1.06x10(17)K determined by the maximum electron/positron number density of 1/(2R(e))(3 )where R-e is the electron radius. In the glassy phase (T>T-G) the Universe undergoes exponential acceleration, characteristic of cosmic inflation, with a constant potential energy density psi(G)=1.9x10(50)J/m(3). At lower temperatures T <T-G photon-e(-)e(+) chemical equilibrium is restored and the glassy phase gracefully exits to the Lambda CDM cosmological model when the equation of state w=1/3, corresponding to a cross-over temperature T-X= 0.94x10(17)K. In the eBse model the inflaton scalar field is temperature T where the potential energy density psi(T) is a plateau potential, in agreement with Planck collaboration 2013 findings. There are no free parameters that require fine tuning to give cosmic inflation in the eBse model.