Cosmic inflation

Cosmic inflation is the idea, first proposed by Alan Guth in 1981, that the nascent universe passed through a phase of exponential expansion (the inflationary epoch) that was driven by a negative pressure vacuum energy density. This expansion is similar to a de Sitter universe with positive cosmological constant. As a direct consequence of this expansion, all of the observable universe originated in a small causally-connected region. Quantum fluctuations in this microscopic region, magnified to cosmic size, then became the seeds for the growth of structure in the universe (see galaxy formation and evolution). The particle responsible for inflation is generally called the inflaton.

Related Topics:
Alan Guth - Universe - Exponential expansion - Inflationary epoch - Vacuum - De Sitter universe - Cosmological constant - Causally-connected - Quantum fluctuation - Galaxy formation and evolution - Inflaton

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The name of the theory was a semi-humorous reference to the economic inflation in the United States in the late 1970s.

Related Topics:
Inflation - United States

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