“I think we can think of this measurement today

baby doll dresses for women Wholesale Corsets “I think we can think of this measurement today as opening a new window up on what we believe to be a new regime of physics,” said John Kovac, an associate
professor of astronomy at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who led the team. “The physics of what happens in the first unbelievably tiny
fraction of a second in the universe, and at extremely high energies.”
The presentation, in a packed auditorium at the Harvard-Smithsonian CFA, was packed with scientists wearing matching T-shirts with a map of the South Pole on
the back, because that is where the telescope that made the measurement is located. Guest scientists wearing space-themed ties showed up, and an image of
Rosie the Riveter was left near copies of the scientific papers, with the motto “We can do it!” replaced by “We detected it!”

Since inflation was first proposed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist Alan Guth in 1980, it has been an attractive, but unproven theory for
the rapid expansion of the early universe. Guth describes it as the “bang” of the Big Bang.
Inflation proposes that the initial expansion of the universe was caused by a repulsive form of gravity. The initial patch of the universe that underwent
inflation would have been unbelievably small, about a billionth of the size of a proton, and then expanded exponentially. It was proposed because simpler
models of the Big Bang could not explain some features of the universe, such as how uniform it is across the sky.
As Guth’s initial idea has been refined and developed by other scientists over the years, its predictions seemed to be bearing out. But there was still no
direct evidence for inflation and it was unclear whether the theory would ever have direct proof to bolster it. The energy needed to recreate the conditions
in a particle accelerator were so high that it was unfeasible to think about recreating it. What inflation did predict, however, was a particular
polarization pattern in the cosmic microwave background -- the faint light that is the afterglow of the Big Bang.
Using a telescope called BICEP2 based at the South Pole, the Harvard-led team claims to have detected a swirly polarization pattern, called B-mode
polarization, in the faint light left over from the Big Bang. If confirmed by other experiments, it will be strong evidence of inflation and help guide
scientists to which particular version of inflation is the correct one.
Guth said he learned the results when Kovac, the astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, e-mailed him to tell him he had some
urgent news. Kovac came to Guth’s office at MIT and disclosed the results last week.
“I was ecstatic,” said Guth. “I hope this will sort of put the nail in the coffin, and define inflation as being the theory.”
MIT professor Alan Guth.
SUZANNE KREITER/GLOBE STAFF