The inflationary universe is a research area in cosmology focused on models in which the very early universe underwent a brief epoch of accelerated, quasi-exponential expansion driven by a high-energy vacuum-like component, typically modeled by a scalar inflaton field. This framework addresses the horizon, flatness, and monopole problems of standard Big Bang cosmology and predicts a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of primordial curvature perturbations and a stochastic background of gravitational waves. Research in this area investigates specific inflationary potentials, reheating dynamics, connections to particle physics and quantum field theory in curved spacetime, and confronts model predictions with precision cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure observations.
New research suggests that relic black holes from before the big bang may still shape galaxies today. These black holes could explain dark matter, one of the biggest unsolved questions in cosmology.
Astronomy
Apr 14, 2026
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Waterloo scientists have developed a new way to understand how the universe began, and it could change what we know about the Big Bang and the earliest moments of cosmic history. Their work suggests that the universe's rapid ...
General Physics
Mar 29, 2026
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For the last few decades, researchers have been studying what the universe looked like in its first seconds. It is generally accepted that the universe expanded exponentially in the first fraction of a second after the Big ...
Astronomy
Mar 23, 2026
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Two new studies have measured the expansion of the universe in our immediate cosmic neighborhood using a novel method that analyzes the motion of two nearby galaxy groups within their surrounding cosmic flow. The results ...
Astronomy
Mar 11, 2026
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How did the universe come into being? There are a multitude of theories on this subject. In a Physical Review Letters paper, three scientists formulate a new model: according to this, inflation, the first, very rapid expansion ...
General Physics
Oct 24, 2025
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How exactly did the universe start and how did these processes determine its formation and evolution? This is what a study published in Physical Review Research hopes to address as a team of researchers from Spain and Italy ...
Astronomy
Aug 28, 2025
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Astronomers have peered back in time to find what looks like a population of "hidden" galaxies that could hold the key to unlocking some of the universe's secrets. If their existence is confirmed it would "effectively break ...
Astronomy
Apr 10, 2025
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On March 11, NASA launched a new space telescope into orbit to explore the origins of the universe. The mission will use sophisticated software, developed at the Arizona Cosmology Lab at the University of Arizona, to analyze ...
Astronomy
Mar 22, 2025
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If there were such a thing as a photo album of the universe, it might include snapshots of pancake-like disks of gas and dust, swirling around newly formed stars across the Milky Way. Known as planet-forming disks, they are ...
Planetary Sciences
Mar 4, 2025
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Before there was light, there was cosmic inflation.
Astronomy
Mar 3, 2025
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