In inflationary cosmology, the concept of charge, specifically electric charge, doesn't play a significant role in the behavior of particles during the inflationary epoch. Inflation is a theoretical framework proposed to explain the observed large-scale homogeneity and isotropy of the universe, as well as the flatness of the universe's spatial geometry.
During inflation, the universe underwent an extremely rapid expansion driven by a hypothetical scalar field called the "inflaton." This expansion occurred much faster than the speed of light, causing the universe to grow exponentially in a very short period of time. This rapid expansion has several important consequences for the behavior of particles:
Horizon Problem: In the standard Big Bang model, different regions of the universe that are now widely separated were not in causal contact at early times. This raises the "horizon problem" – why is the cosmic microwave background radiation so uniform across the sky? Inflation solves this problem by allowing distant regions of the universe to come into causal contact before inflation, so they could equilibrate and then be stretched apart during inflation while retaining the same temperature and density.
Flatness Problem: The universe appears to be very close to flat, in terms of its spatial geometry. Inflation naturally explains this flatness by stretching out any initial curvature to an almost perfectly flat state over a very short time.
Monopole Problem: Some theories predict the existence of magnetic monopoles – particles with only a single magnetic pole, analogous to electric charges. However, these monopoles have not been observed, which is known as the "monopole problem." Inflation provides a possible solution by diluting the density of monopoles to such an extent that they are essentially absent from our observable universe.
Since inflation mainly deals with the rapid expansion of space and the resolution of certain cosmological problems, it doesn't rely on the electromagnetic interaction or electric charge. However, after the end of inflation, as the universe transitioned to the more familiar hot Big Bang phase, particles with electric charge became important once again, influencing the formation of atoms, galaxies, and other structures in the universe.