On Inflation

Inflation theory, proposed around 25 years ago, has posited that quantum fluctuations present at the outset of the Big Bang were amplified during a short period of extremely rapid expansion to form the matter density fluctuations that eventually resulted in the formation of the first stars and galaxies in the Universe. New data from the Wilkonson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) - mapping both temperature and polarization variations in the CMB - are enabling scientists to discriminate between competing models for inflation, representing a tremendous advance for cosmological physics. The NYTimes article is here.