A cosmological theory proposing that the universe underwent a period of exponential expansion in the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang. This rapid expansion explains the universe's large-scale uniformity and flatness.
Proposed by Alan Guth in 1980, the term 'inflation' was borrowed from economics to describe the rapid expansion of space. The theory was developed to solve several problems with the standard Big Bang model, including the horizon and flatness problems.
During cosmic inflation, the universe expanded faster than light - not breaking Einstein's speed limit, but stretching space itself so rapidly that distant regions lost contact forever! A region smaller than a proton grew to the size of a grapefruit in less than 10^-32 seconds.
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