Since we’re focused on the entire universe, something big, you might think the preoccupation of quantum physics with all things small would make it irrelevant. And if it weren’t for inflationary cosmology, your intuition would be on the mark. But much as stretching a piece of spandex reveals the intricate pattern of its stitches, stretching space through a burst of inflationary expansion reveals quantum features usually cordoned off in the microworld. In essence, inflationary expansion reaches into the microworld and stretches quantum features clear across the sky.
