An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A class of → Big Bang models of the Universe that include a finite period of accelerated expansion in their early histories. Such an event would have released enormous energy, stored until then in the vacuum of space-time. The horizon of the Universe expanded, temporarily, much faster than the speed of light.
→ inflaton field.

See also: Inflationary, adj. of → inflation; → model.