/sci/ - Science & Math

>>8184528

Of course, we aren’t able to see further back than the CMB, as our view is blocked by an opaque plasma wall that light is unable to penetrate; hence there is a barrier between us and inflation.

So how do we test the inflation hypothesis, if we can’t test it with light?

Well firstly, this is how we think inflation happens:

It’s much like a phase transition of a material.

For example, water can be present in an environment that is below zero without turning to ice, but then all of a sudden it phase transitions, perhaps due to an energy density fluctuation: the state preceding this transition is what is referred to as a metastable state.

When it comes to empty space we refer to this state as a false vacuum:

>pic related

The idea is that, energy can become momentarily stuck in empty space which results in a phase transition in the form of a hot big bang and that during this period it expands very rapidly, thereafter (upon the completion of the phase transition) it expands at the rate observed for our universe.