[betty boop]

It isn't that matter moved faster than the speed of light but rather that, in the inflationary model, the universe itself (space/time) expanded faster than the speed of light (in the very early moments.)

This is my understanding, too, dearest sister in Christ.

Thank you ever so much for the ping!

[TXnMA]

"...the universe itself (space/time) expanded faster than the speed of light (in the very early moments)..."

That is the way I understand C, as well. C was postulated to be a limiting property of electromagnetic radiation, etc, -- not of space-time and the universe in their entirety.

[Kevmo]

I am more pedestrian in my understanding.

Since it is Space*Time that is expanding faster than light, by which we measure time, basically we have “Space travelling faster than light” and “Time travelling faster than Light”. That 2nd component I find difficult — it is analogous to saying “Time travelling faster than Time”. So I narrow it down to “matter (space) travelling faster than time i.e. the speed of light.

To put it in the 2nd frame, it would be as if Matter were greater than Matter. Space*Time is greater than SPace. Space*time is greater than Time. Space*Time is~ Matter*Time is greater than Matter*SpeedOfLight — drop out time from the equation and you have Space is~ Matter is greater than Matter.

So it’s easier to truncate it to Matter travelling faster than the speed of light. That way I don’t have to deal with Time travelling faster than Time.