Describes the rapid exponential expansion of the early universe and its implications.
The Big Bang was not an explosion in space but an expansion of space itself. This comprehensive guide explains the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Planck epoch to the formation of stars and galaxies, and clarifies why the common ‘explosion’ metaphor is misleading.
Cosmic inflation is the theory that the universe underwent an exponential expansion in the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang. This guide explains how inflation solved the horizon and flatness problems, seeded the large-scale structure, and set the stage for the cosmic epochs that followed—from the Planck epoch to the formation of stars and galaxies.
The universe was not infinitely small at the Big Bang. Cosmic inflation stretched space to a finite, macroscopic size before the hot Big Bang began. This article traces the universe’s evolution from the Planck epoch to today, explaining key epochs, the cosmic microwave background, and the formation of structure.
The cosmic microwave background is uniform to one part in 100,000, a puzzle solved by cosmic inflation. This article explains the CMB’s origin, the epochs of the early universe, and how missions like COBE, WMAP, and Planck have measured it.
