Prediction of the Expansion of the Universe Made by Alexander Friedmann and the Effect of Particle Creation in Cosmology

This review devoted to the centenary of Alexander Friedmann’s prediction of the Universe expansion presents the results obtained by him in 1922 and 1924 and an overview of their further developments. Special attention is paid to the role of mathematics, which enabled Friedmann to perform a radical departure from the conventional practice of considering our universe as a static system. The effect of particle creation in the expanding universe is discussed concurrently with the earlier investigated phenomenon of pair creation from a vacuum by an external electric field. The numbers of scalar and spinor particles created at different stages of the Universe’s evolution are presented, and the possible role of the effect of the creation of particles in the formation of relativistic plasma and cold dark matter after the inflationary period is noted. It is stressed that by introducing the concept of the expanding universe, Friedmann made a contribution towards the understanding of the world around us that is compatible with those made by Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Newton in previous epochs.