Precise details depend on factors that neither theory nor observation has as yet determined (the initial value of the inflaton field, the exact shape of the potential energy slope, and so on)5 but in typical versions the mathematical calculations show that the inflaton’s energy would roll down the slope in a tiny fraction of a second, on the order of 10–35 seconds. And yet, during that brief span, space would expand by a colossal factor, perhaps 1030 if not more. These numbers are so extreme that they defy analogy. They imply that a region of space the size of a pea would be stretched larger
...more
This is just fucking incredible!
