Making Waves in the Cosmos

摘要

Earlier this year, a research team rocked the world of physics when it announced that it had detected gravitational waves. This discovery has huge significance for many areas of study. However, its greatest impact will be on our understanding of the big bang that gave birth to our universe and of the very early stage in its evolution known as inflation. In order to appreciate the magnitude of this discovery, it helps to know a few things about cosmology.