To: PatrickHenry; Physicist; ThinkPlease; RadioAstronomer; aBootes
From your first link:
The remaining possibility is the detection of optical polarization in the cosmic microwave background radiation induced by long wavelength gravity-wave effects. If such polarization were detected, it would tend to support inflationary cosmology and to falsify ekpyrotic cosmology. However, no such polarization has yet been observed.[emphasis added]
So, the observation reported in the original article not only suppports inflationary Cosmology, it falsifies the ekpyrotic alternative.
Yet another piece of the Cosmic puzzle appears to have fallen in place......
17 posted on 09/21/2002 4:25 PM EDT by longshadow
I'm quoting something from PH's link in the reply immediately above the the one shown above.
Perhaps they overstated the case for falsifying the Ekpyrotic Model.
Don't shoot me; I'm just the messenger!
The Big Bang model, as a result of its turbulent super-high-density initial phase, should produce in its early stages a cosmic flood of gravitational radiation, and this should show up as polarization of the electromagnetic cosmic background radiation. The Steinhardt-Turok model predicts no such gravity waves and polarization. If that polarization of the microwave background is found, the Big Bang model gains strong experimental support. On the other hand, if no such polarization is present, the Steinhardt-Turok cyclic model receives similar support.