During the period of cosmic inflation, the universe underwent an extremely rapid expansion, increasing its size by a factor of 10⁵⁰ in a time of perhaps 10^-32 seconds. Did this action violate the postulate of special relativity that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light? A)Yes, but this was before the Planck time, and the laws of physics as we presently understand them, including the laws of special relativity, did not yet apply. B)No. The universe was so small at the beginning of the inflationary epoch that even an expansion by 50 orders of magnitude did not take it far enough in 10^-32 seconds to exceed the speed of light. C)The postulate of special relativity was not violated because it was the dimensions of space that were expanding. The postulate applies to objects moving through space. D)The postulate of special relativity was not violated because the curvature of space was so extreme at this time that the distance objects moved through during this 10^-32 seconds was foreshortened so that the speed was less than the speed of light.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The postulate of special relativity applies to objects moving through space, not to the expansion of space itself. During cosmic inflation, it was the space between objects that expanded rapidly, not the objects moving through space at speeds exceeding that of light.

During the Period of Cosmic Inflation, the Universe Underwent an Extremely