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Evidence for Inflationary Gravitational Waves from the BICEP2 experiment in Antarctica
In March 2014, NSF-funded researchers John Kovack and Clem Pryke discussed the evidence underlying their published contention that data gathered by the BICEP telescope at the South Pole confirms the inflationary theory of the origins of the universe.
Gravitational waves are a key but elusive prediction of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity first postulated nearly 100 years ago. They are generated during Inflation according to ideas put forward by Stephen Hawking, Alan Guth, and others in the 1970s and 80s.
If these findings are confirmed, they will help us understand better how the universe we inhabit burst into existence in an extraordinary event that initiated the Big Bang. This discovery made headlines around the world.
Credit: NSF
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