The inflationary epoch lasted from 10−36 seconds after the conjectured Big Bang singularity to sometime between 10−33 and 10−32 seconds after the singularity.
Following the inflationary period, the universe continues to expand, but at a less rapid rate.[1]
Inflation theory was first developed in 1979 by theoretical physicist Alan Guth at Cornell University.
It was developed further in the early 1980s. It explains the origin of the large-scale structure of the cosmos.
Quantum fluctuations in the microscopic inflationary region, magnified to cosmic size, become the seeds for the growth of structure in the Universe (see galaxy formation and evolution and structure formation).[2]
Many physicists also believe that inflation explains why the universe appears to be the same in all directions (isotropic), why the cosmic microwave background radiation is distributed evenly, why the universe is flat, and why no magnetic monopoles have been observed.
The detailed particle physics mechanism responsible for inflation is unknown.
The basic inflationary paradigm is accepted by most physicists, as a number of inflation model predictions have been confirmed by observation;[3] however, a substantial minority of scientists dissent from this position.[4][5][6]
The hypothetical field thought to be responsible for inflation is called the inflation.[7]
In 2002, three of the original architects of the theory were recognized for their major contributions; physicists Alan Guth of M.I.T., Andrei Linde of Stanford, and Paul Steinhardt of Princeton shared the prestigious Dirac Prize "for development of the concept of inflation in cosmology".[8]
In 2012, Alan Guth and Andrei Linde were awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their invention and development of inflationary cosmology.[9]
Scientists have finally discovered why the Universe
is expanding...It’s trying to get away from Chuck Norris.