Does $\Lambda$CDM include inflation?

$$\Lambda$$CDM obviously includes dark energy (the $$\Lambda$$) as well as cold dark matter (CDM). Does it also include cosmic inflation?

I've not seen a clear answer to this. Wikipedia's article on Lambda-CDM says in the lede that Lambda-CDM can be extended to include inflation (i.e. it doesn't per se include cosmic inflation). But then in the next section it contradicts itself by saying "The model includes ... an exponential expansion of space [shortly after the big bang] by a scale multiplier of $$10^{27}$$ or more, known as cosmic inflation." I also suspect most cosmologists will agree that the observational evidence behind inflation is less established than that behind dark matter and dark energy.

Does $$\Lambda$$CDM include cosmic inflation? If so, why isn't it referred to as $$\Lambda$$CDMI?

• Would this not be a matter of opinion? Or is there an internationally recognized authority on naming cosmological models? – safesphere Oct 16 '18 at 1:46
• I don't think there's an internationally recognized authority, but people generally have a good idea of what theory they're referring to. For example if someone talked about Newtonian cosmology, nobody would think about Planck's constant - it's just not included in the theory. The question is whether Lambda-CDM includes inflation. – Allure Oct 16 '18 at 2:06
• Further down in the article it says: "The model uses the Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric, the Friedmann equations and the cosmological equations of state to describe the observable universe from right after the inflationary epoch to present and future. " So I'm pretty sure the answer to your 1st question is "yes." – D. Halsey Oct 16 '18 at 18:41
• @D.Halsey but if it's from "right after the inflationary epoch", then the inflationary epoch itself is not part of the model (?) – Allure Oct 16 '18 at 18:48
• @Allure: I interpret that to mean that the model includes all 3 things (inflation, FLRW metric, & Friedmann equations), using the results of the inflationary calculations as initial conditions for the Friedmann equations (which don't have to be at t=0). – D. Halsey Oct 16 '18 at 18:59

The $$\Lambda CDM$$ cosmological model is a pattern of the evolution of the cosmos parameterized by a cosmological constant $$\Lambda$$ describing the vacuum energy (dark energy), ordinary matter (baryonic) and cold nonbaryonic dark matter (CDM) inferred to match the observed matter density. The picture in which, as per current cosmological epoch, roughly matter density $$\Omega_M = 0.3$$, vacuum energy density $$\Omega_\Lambda = 0.7$$, radiation density $$\Omega_R = 0.0001$$ (negligible), fits an impressive variety of observational data and implies a flat universe as well.