Editing Zero-point energy (section)

=== Cosmic inflation ===
{{Main|Inflation (cosmology)}}
{{unsolved|physics|Why does the observable universe have more matter than antimatter?}}

[[Cosmic inflation]] is phase of accelerated [[cosmic expansion]] just after the Big Bang. It explains the origin of the [[Observable universe#Large-scale structure|large-scale structure of the cosmos]]. It is believed [[quantum vacuum fluctuations]] caused by zero-point energy arising in the microscopic inflationary period, later became magnified to a cosmic size, becoming the gravitational seeds for galaxies and structure in the Universe (see [[galaxy formation and evolution]] and [[structure formation]]).<ref>Tyson, Neil deGrasse and Donald Goldsmith (2004), ''Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution'', W. W. Norton & Company, pp. 84–85.</ref> Many physicists also believe that inflation explains why the Universe appears to be the same in all directions ([[isotropic]]), why the [[cosmic microwave background]] radiation is distributed evenly, why the Universe is flat, and why no [[magnetic monopole]]s have been observed.

The mechanism for inflation is unclear, it is similar in effect to dark energy but is a far more energetic and short lived process. As with dark energy the best explanation is some form of vacuum energy arising from quantum fluctuations. It may be that inflation caused [[baryogenesis]], the hypothetical physical processes that produced an [[symmetry|asymmetry]] (imbalance) between [[baryon]]s and antibaryons produced in the [[Big Bang|very early universe]], but this is far from certain.