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travwg33
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How is it possible that the universe expanded faster than the speed of light during inflation when this is the "cosmic speed limit"?
According to the theory of inflation, the universe underwent a rapid period of expansion in the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang. During this time, the energy density of the universe was extremely high, causing space to expand faster than the speed of light. This is supported by observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation and the large-scale structure of the universe.
Inflation does not violate the law of special relativity, which states that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. The expansion of space is not limited by this law, as it is not a physical object traveling through space, but rather the stretching of space itself.
Besides the observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation and the large-scale structure of the universe, the theory of inflation also explains the uniformity and flatness of the universe on a large scale, as well as the absence of magnetic monopoles. Inflation also predicts the existence of gravitational waves, which have been observed by the BICEP2 experiment.
The exact duration of the inflation period is still unknown, but it is believed to have lasted for about 10^-36 seconds. This is an extremely short time compared to the age of the universe, which is currently estimated to be around 13.8 billion years.
Some theories suggest that inflation may have occurred multiple times, with each episode causing a rapid expansion of the universe. This is known as eternal inflation and is still a topic of debate among scientists. However, there is currently no definitive evidence for multiple inflation events.