Back Inflasie (kosmologie) Afrikaans Inflación cosmica AN تضخم كوني Arabic Інфляцыйная мадэль Сусвету Byelorussian Инфлация (космология) Bulgarian মহাজাগতিক স্ফীতিশীলতা Bengali/Bangla Kosmička inflacija BS Inflació còsmica Catalan Inflace (kosmologie) Czech Инфляци (космологи) CV
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In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation, or just inflation, is a theory of exponential expansion of space in the early universe. The inflationary epoch is believed to have lasted from 10−36 seconds to between 10−33 and 10−32 seconds after the Big Bang. Following the inflationary period, the universe continued to expand, but at a slower rate. The re-acceleration of this slowing expansion due to dark energy began after the universe was already over 7.7 billion years old (5.4 billion years ago).[1]
Inflation theory was developed in the late 1970s and early 80s, with notable contributions by several theoretical physicists, including Alexei Starobinsky at Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Alan Guth at Cornell University, and Andrei Linde at Lebedev Physical Institute. Alexei Starobinsky, Alan Guth, and Andrei Linde won the 2014 Kavli Prize "for pioneering the theory of cosmic inflation".[2] 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).[3] 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;[a] however, a substantial minority of scientists dissent from this position.[5][6][7] The hypothetical field thought to be responsible for inflation is called the inflaton.[8]
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".[9] In 2012 Guth and Linde were awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their invention and development of inflationary cosmology.[10]
- ^ "First Second of the Big Bang". How The Universe Works 3. 2014. Discovery Science.
- ^ "2014 Astrophysics Citation". The Kavli Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
- ^ Tyson, Neil deGrasse and Donald Goldsmith (2004), Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, W. W. Norton & Co., pp. 84–5.
- ^ Tsujikawa, Shinji (28 April 2003). "Introductory review of cosmic inflation". arXiv:hep-ph/0304257.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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Hložekwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Guth, Alan H. (1997). The Inflationary Universe: The Quest for a New Theory of Cosmic Origins. Basic Books. pp. 233–234. ISBN 978-0201328400.
- ^ "The Medallists: A list of past Dirac Medallists". ictp.it.
- ^ "Laureates of the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2012".
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