What Caused the Big Bang?

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: ↓ More info below ↓ Check out the new Space Time Merch Store! Support Space Time on Patreon Every astronomy textbook tells us that soon after the Big Bang, there was a period of exponentially accelerating expansion called cosmic inflation. In a tiny fraction of a second, inflationary expansion multiplied the size of the universe by a larger factor than in the following 13 and a half billion years of regular expansion. This story seems like a bit of a … stretch. Is there really any mechanism that could cause something like this to happen? What what we’re covering today – the real physics of cosmic inflation. Hosted by Matt O’Dowd Written by Matt O’Dowd Graphics by Leonardo Scholzer Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Produced By: Kornhaber Brown Dark Energy Playlis