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In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation, or just inflation, is a theory of exponential expansion of space in the very early universe.Following the inflationary period, the universe continued to expand, but at a slower rate.
Monetary inflation is a sustained increase in the money supply of a country (or currency area). Depending on many factors, especially public expectations, the fundamental state and development of the economy, and the transmission mechanism, it is likely to result in price inflation, which is usually just called "inflation", which is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services.
Eternal inflation is a hypothetical inflationary universe model, which is itself an outgrowth or extension of the Big Bang theory.. According to eternal inflation, the inflationary phase of the universe's expansion lasts forever throughout most of the universe.
Quantum field theory stipulates that the pressure of the vacuum energy is always negative and equal in magnitude to its energy density. Inflationary theory postulates that there is a vacuum state with very large vacuum energy, caused by a non-zero vacuum expectation value of the inflaton field. Any region of space in this state will rapidly expand.
Inflation expectations or expected inflation is the rate of inflation that is anticipated for some time in the foreseeable future. There are two major approaches to modeling the formation of inflation expectations.
Inflation can be caused by factors such as increased production costs or high demand for goods and services, and expectations for higher inflation can also contribute to rising prices.
Vacuum state is a configuration of quantum fields representing a local minimum (but not necessarily a global minimum) of energy. Inflationary models propose that at approximately 10 −36 seconds after the Big Bang, vacuum state of the Universe was different from the one seen at the present time: the inflationary vacuum had a much higher energy density.
Chaotic inflation occurs in a much broader class of theories, without any need for the assumption of initial thermal equilibrium. The basic principles of this scenario became incorporated in most of the presently existing realistic versions of inflationary theory. Chaotic inflation changed the way we think about the beginning of inflation.