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.
Science never stops. Get notified about trending stories.
