Inflaton

This article is about a particle/quantum field posited in cosmology. For a general rise in the level of prices, see Inflation. For other uses of "inflation", see Inflation (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Instanton.

The inflaton field is a hypothetical scalar field that is conjectured to have driven cosmic inflation in the very early universe. The field, originally postulated by Alan Guth, provides a mechanism that can generate a period of rapid expansion from 10−35 to 10−34 seconds after the initial expansion, which consequently forms a universe consistent with observed spatial isotropy and homogeneity.

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