Explanation:
The Universe is
expanding gradually now.
But its initial expansion was almost impossibly rapid as
it likely grew from quantum scale fluctuations in a
trillionth of a second.
In fact, this
cosmological scenario, known as
Inflation,
is now reported to be further quantified by an
analysis of three years of
data from the WMAP
spacecraft.
WMAP's instruments detect the
cosmic
microwave background
radiation - the afterglow light
from the early Universe.
WMAP's amazing success in exploring the first trillionth
of a second and favoring specific inflationary scenarios
lies in its ability to make unprecedented,
precise
measurements of the properties of
the microwave background.
The subtle properties are distilled from conditions
in the early Universe and related to its first moments of
existence.
Schematically, this diagram traces the 13.7
billion
year (plus a
trillionth
of a second ...)
history of the Universe from the quantum scale to the
formation of stars, galaxies, planets,
and WMAP.
