Concepts

Cosmic Inflation

Citation Formats

General Reference

Space and Astronomy Atlas. "Cosmic Inflation." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://space.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/cosmic-inflation.

APA Style

Space and Astronomy Atlas. (n.d.). Cosmic Inflation. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://space.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/cosmic-inflation

BibTeX

@misc{spaceandastronomyatlas-cosmic-inflation,
  author = {Space and Astronomy Atlas},
  title = {Cosmic Inflation},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://space.interactiveatlas.org/concepts/cosmic-inflation},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Cosmic inflation is a theorized period of extremely rapid, exponential expansion of space in the very early universe, occurring a tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang. It was proposed to explain why the observable universe appears flat and uniform in temperature (the horizon problem) and why no magnetic monopoles are observed today. Inflation predicts the tiny density fluctuations later imprinted on the cosmic microwave background.

Facts

Concept Domain

Cosmology 1

Formulated Year

1980 1

Physicist Alan Guth's original insight came in 1979 while investigating why no magnetic monopoles are observed; his seminal paper was completed in 1980 and published in Physical Review D in January 1981.

Proposed By

Alan Guth 1

Cross-Tradition Connections