Physics Department Colloquium
Bicep2 has recently reported the detection of degree-scale B-mode polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background,interpreting it as evidence for the gravitational wave background generated during inflation in the early Universe. These results, which have to be analysed in combination with the results of the ESA Planck satellite mission as well as other cosmological observations, shed light on the physical processes occurring in the very early Universe, i.e. at energy scales around 10^16 GeV.
