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The Discovery of ‘Cosmic Inflation’ Provides Support for Big Bang Theory

Researchers are saying that after the Big Bang theory, the expansion of the Cosmos was started. According to researchers, the universe was born about 14 billion years ago in the event called the Big Bang. They are now saying that a split-second later, the expansion of the cosmos began with a powerful-jump-start.

They are calling the discovery a major advance if it can be confirmed. Scientist already believed that extremely rapid growth happened, finding the evidence, is a goal in the study of the universe. Researchers are now saying that they have evidence. As reported on Monday, researchers say they did it by looking into the faint light that remains from the Big Bang.

Theoretical physicist, Lawrence Krauss, of Arizona State University, said if verified, the discovery “gives us a window on the universe at the very beginning,” when it was far less than one-trillionth of a second old; it’s just amazing,” he said. “You can see back to the beginning of time.” He added that he thinks the new finding would rank with one of the greatest discoveries about the universe in the last 25 years.

The collaboration included researchers from Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the University of Minnesota, Stanford University, the California Institute of Technology and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Leader of the collaboration, John Kovav, of Harvard said, the team plans to submit its results to a scientific journal this week.

The astronomers examined about 2 percent of the sky for three years with a telescope located at the South Pole. The South Pole was chosen for it’s very dry air that aids in the observations. They were seeking a specific pattern in light waves within the faint microwave glow left over from the Big Bang. The pattern was considered evidence of the rapid growth spurt, known as inflation. “The smoking gun of inflation” is what Kovac called it.

Light-wave patterns were caused by gravitational waves, which are ripples in the interweaving of space and time that  sprawls through the universe. If the discovery is confirmed, work would be the first detection of such waves from the birth of he universe.

Krauss forewarned that the light-wave pattern may not be a sign of inflation, but stressed that it’s “extremely likely” that it is. It’s “our best hope” for a direct test of whether the rapid growth spurt happened. Krauss and other experts said, that the results must be verified by other observations, a standard caveat in science.

Image credit: www.innerus.org

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