... observations. Furthermore, the pattern of thesedepartures across the width of the sky is claimed to offer strong support to the infla-tion hypothesis (Spergel et al., 2003; Schwartz and Terrero-Escalante, ... can explain why the inflation occurred. The hypothesis doesnot yet have as strong a mandate, therefore, as does the Big Bang theory to which itis an addendum. But as matters stand, it would be ... withoutcausal contact with the other “universes” other than at the moment of originationin the single inflation event.Pushing this speculation a step further, Linde, Vilenkin, and others postulate a“multiverse”...