As noted in the Introduction, because we are describing a complete model of the universe that includes novel components that each need to be explained, and, as with any complete cosmological scenario, involves many stages and transitions, even a broad overview like the one in this section can seem complicated. It’s a summary in a nutshell, but for a very big nut!

β€” Nissan Itzhaki, Uri Peleg, and Paul J. Steinhardt, Instant Folded Strings, Dark Energy and a Cyclic Bouncing Universe, General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology, 2025 (via)