A new study claimed that they were able to detect evidences of a phenomenon believed to mirror the first moments after the Big Bang called inflation.
Inflation was first proposed by Alam Guth, a physicist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 1980. Guth theorized that inflation symbolizes the hyper-expansion of the universe and this was caused by the repulsive force coming from the gravitational field. He also believed that the first area which experienced inflation was very small but it expanded exponentially. This theory was further developed by other scientists and since then, different variations were created.
The presentation was conducted in the Harvard Smithsonian CFA's auditorium and was attended by scientists from all over the country. The researchers, led by Harvard astronomer John Kovac, also reported that they have found evidence of gravitational waves, which has been included in Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. The discovery of these waves also became the first measurement of that kind of radiation which was theorized by British physicist Stephen Hawking.
"I think we can think of this measurement today as opening a new window up on what we believe to be a new regime of physics," associate professor of astronomy at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, John Kovac told Boston Globe. "The physics of what happens in the first unbelievably tiny fraction of a second in the universe, and at extremely high energies."
The team used the BICEP2 telescope mounted at the South Pole to detect a swirly pattern of polarization, referred to as B-mode polarization. This type of polarization was observed from the faint light made by the Big Bang. If other scientists will be able to confirm the existence of the B-mode polarization, this would be strong evidence proving the existence of inflation and will point scientists to identify which description of the inflation theory is the most accurate.
