Cosmic inflation
In a sliver of a second the universe doubles in size at least sixty times over.
- When
- Known to
- ± 20 million years
- Era
- Primordial
Between about 10⁻³⁶ and 10⁻³² seconds the universe expands by a factor of at least 10²⁶ — faster, in effect, than light, because it is space itself stretching rather than anything moving through it. Inflation explains why the sky looks the same temperature in every direction and why space is so nearly flat, and it magnifies quantum fluctuations into the density ripples that later become galaxies. The pattern imprinted in the cosmic microwave background is the closest thing to direct evidence.