Cosmic Microwave Map Swirls Indicate Inflation
Explanation: Did the universe undergo an early epoch of extremely
rapid expansion? Such an inflationary epoch has been postulated to
explain several puzzling cosmic attributes such as why our
universe looks similar in opposite directions. March 16, results
were released showing an expected signal of unexpected strength,
bolstering a prediction of inflation that specific patterns of
polarization should exist in cosmic microwave background radiation
-- light emitted 13.8 billion years ago as the universe first
became transparent. Called B-mode polarizations, these early
swirling patterns can be directly attributed to squeeze and
stretch effects that gravitational radiation has on
photon-emitting electrons.
The surprising results were discovered in data from the Background
Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2 (BICEP2) microwave
observatory near the South Pole. BICEP2 is the building-mounted
dish pictured above on the left. Note how the black polarization
vectors appear to swirl around the colored temperature peaks on
the inset microwave sky map. Although statistically compelling,
the conclusions will likely remain controversial while
confirmation attempts are made with independent observations.
A Polarizing Discovery About the Big Bang!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IlBNJbCzfk <== Start Here
Science Friday: Detecting the "Bang" from the Big Bang <== Then Listen to this 29 minutes
http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/03/21/2014/detecting-the-bang-from-the-big-bang.html
What's the story with those Big Bang waves?
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2014/0325/What-s-the-story-with-those-Big-Bang-waves-A-Q-A <== Start Here
Many hands enable discovery of cosmic inflation
http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/hub/cosmic-inflation-gravitational-waves-discovery?email_issue=440
Physicists find evidence of cosmic inflation
http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/march-2014/physicists-find-evidence-of-cosmic-inflation
Gravitational Waves from Big Bang Detected
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gravity-waves-cmb-b-mode-polarization/
Even Einstein Could Not Have Imagined Technology Used to Directly Detect Gravitational Waves
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/even-einstein-could-not-have-imagined-technology-used-to-directly-detect-gravitational-waves/
Setting a trap for gravity waves
http://phys.org/news/2014-03-gravity.html
Gravitational-Wave Finding Causes "Spring Cleaning" in Physics
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gravitational-wave-finding-causes-spring-cleaning-in-physics/
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