原初引力波与暴胀宇宙学

Primordial Gravitational Waves and Cosmic Inflation

2014年3月17日,天文学家宣布在宇宙微波背景辐射中发现了B模式偏振。根据暴胀宇宙学模型的预言,B模式偏振是宇宙诞生之初产生的原初引力波留在宇宙微波背景辐射中的特殊痕迹。引力波作为广义相对论的重要预言,至今没有得到确证,这一发现是引力波理论提出以来关于引力波存在的最重要证据。同时,这一发现强有力地支持了大爆炸和暴胀理论,或对今后宇宙学的发展产生深远影响。

On 17 March 2014, astronomers have announced the detection of B-mode polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background. According to inflation models, primordial gravitational waves generated at the very beginning of the universe have imprinted a special signature, B-mode polarization, in the CMB. Gravitational waves, which are important inferences drawn from general relativity, have not been detected directly hitherto. Discovery of B-mode polarization is the strongest evidence that supports the existence of gravitational waves. It is a smoking gun for the Big Bang and inflation and will cast profound influences on cosmology.