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Inflaton
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<p>The inflaton field is a hypothetical <a href="/facts/Scalar_field_theory/pfXvhCm8">scalar field</a> that is conjectured to have driven <a href="/facts/Inflation_(cosmology)/SujXx3aD">cosmic inflation</a> in the <a href="/facts/Very_early_universe/ezBKAdjy">very early universe</a>. The field, originally postulated by <a href="/facts/Alan_Guth/3SJhwEzh">Alan Guth</a>, provides a mechanism by which a period of rapid <a href="/facts/Metric_expansion_of_space/f6Uvt79B">expansion</a> from 10−35 to 10−34 <a href="/facts/Second/jtFxnJXx">seconds</a> after the <a href="/facts/Big_Bang/I5T1vTnv">initial expansion</a> can be generated, forming a universe that is not inconsistent with observed spatial <a href="/facts/Isotropy/mc3QEY2x">isotropy</a> and homogeneity. </p>