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When inflation ends, the temperature returns to the pre-inflationary temperature; this is called reheating or thermalization because the large potential energy of the inflaton field decays into particles and fills the Universe with Standard Model particles, including electromagnetic radiation, starting the radiation dominated phase of the Universe.
The inflaton field is a hypothetical scalar field which is conjectured to have driven cosmic inflation in the very early universe. [1] [2] [3] The field, originally postulated by Alan Guth, [1] provides a mechanism by which a period of rapid expansion from 10 −35 to 10 −34 seconds after the initial expansion can be generated, forming a universe not inconsistent with observed spatial ...
Vacuum state is a configuration of quantum fields representing a local minimum (but not necessarily a global minimum) of energy. Inflationary models propose that at approximately 10 −36 seconds after the Big Bang, vacuum state of the Universe was different from the one seen at the present time: the inflationary vacuum had a much higher energy density.
According to the inflationary model, the universe increased in size by a factor of more than 10 22, from a small and causally connected region in near equilibrium. [5] Inflation then expanded the universe rapidly, isolating nearby regions of spacetime by growing them beyond the limits of causal contact, effectively "locking in" the uniformity ...
The Inflationary Universe: The Quest for a New Theory of Cosmic Origins. Perseus Books. ISBN 0201328402. Guth, Alan (Fall 2002). "Inflation and the New Era of High-Precision Cosmology" (PDF). physics@mit. MIT Department of Physics.
The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. [1] The concept of an expanding universe was scientifically originated by physicist Alexander Friedmann in 1922 with the mathematical derivation of the Friedmann equations.
The local geometry of the universe is determined by whether the relative density Ω is less than, equal to or greater than 1. From top to bottom: a spherical universe with greater than critical density (Ω>1, k>0); a hyperbolic, underdense universe (Ω<1, k<0); and a flat universe with exactly the critical density (Ω=1, k=0). The spacetime of ...
Following the brief inflationary period, the universe continues to expand at a slower rate. Various formulations of inflation theory and their detailed implications became the subject of intense theoretical study. Without a compelling alternative, inflation became the leading solution to the horizon problem.