LMR-070 · Cosmology
Inflation
In 10⁻³² seconds, the universe grew by a factor of 10²⁶.
§ A first look
§ Depths
Six ways into the same idea — from bedtime story to chalkboard. No order required.
L1 · Crayon
Told like a bedtime story.
For a curious 10-year-old. No jargon. Just a picture in your head.
When we look at the leftover glow from the very young universe, we notice it has almost exactly the same warmth in every direction — even between parts that should have been too far apart, that early on, to have shared their warmth. To explain this, scientists think that in the very first split second after the universe began, everything stretched out absurdly fast — way faster than light travels now — turning a speck into something the size of a beach ball almost instantly. This super-fast first burst of stretching is called inflation. It's the universe's loudest birth announcement, and it lasted less than a blink.
§ Strange but true
- 01In the first 10^-32 seconds, the universe expanded faster than light, doubling 90 times.
- 02It smoothed everything out. Without it, the universe would be a lumpy mess and you wouldn't exist.
- 03Inflation might still be happening — somewhere else — birthing new universes constantly. The multiverse has receipts.
§ From the field journal
Inflation
"In 10⁻³² seconds, the universe grew by a factor of 10²⁶."
— observed, sketched, not yet fully understood.
§ Nearby