4 IT’S ONE UNIVERSE OF MANY

Eternal inflation theory was proposed in 1983 by physicist Paul Steinhardt as an extension of the cosmic inflation and Big Bang theories. Alan Guth, Andrei Linde and Steinhardt originally developed cosmic inflation theory to explain some problems with the Big Bang model, and it involved an exponential but rapid expansion of our universe.

The cause of cosmic inflation still remains somewhat vague, but for eternal inflation, Guth proposed in 2007 the existence of a ‘false vacuum’ or region of space with a positive energy density – similar to expanding bubbles forming in a boiling liquid. In this manner, certain regions of space-time, or ‘universes’, would be affected by their own form of cosmic inflation before the positive vacuum moved on to another region. As of yet, this scenario lacks evidence, but if true then our universe could exist as a nodule on another universe as part of a ‘multiverse’.

Another theory suggests that our universe is one of many that exist parallel to one another and is part of a multiverse