Hmm;
OK. I get that the two have independent causes but don't both directly change the shape of spacetime and thereby the positions of things in it ?
Ie: doesn't inflation stretch it in all directions and gravity warps it & creates wells etc bringing things closer ?
I think thats generally the idea.. however I think "space time" is little more than a a fancy reference to a mere "grid" constructed out of math (or that wonderful branch of math we all love...geometry) so as to allow a human visualization of the Universe...some sort of ruler I guess...so expansion really means the grid size is getting "larger" and now within that "grid" matter although not moving in its own right (or getting larger) is moving away from other matter because the "in between' space has grown....It is matter that effects the grid "size" and somehow from the bending of this grid we get our gravity...General Relativity explains this is a mere property of space and there is no force at work to give us "gravity".. neither attraction or repulsion apparently ..it just "is"... hidden in math that general premise is overlooked ...and so far the force of gravity explanation has not passed Newton's answer to such a question..his answer..gravity is the force of God.... smart fellow not to buy into an answer past that.
Dr A also was smart enough to leave out a force and did not really take that aspect past Newton's "god reply"....however lets say we introduce a force for gravity and a force for inflation ....or.... as the position be at the moment...the force of attraction in one corner and in the other against or operating under the force of attraction or along side of it that of dark energy and let them fight it out
... theres another question..is it dark energy that is pushing expansion??? Was Dr A's greatest blunder his greatest insight ... The more you think about it all the more complex it becomes so be careful when folks say they have it all nailed down ...
Until now, I have assumed that the oldest galaxies, 13.75 billion light years away, got there courtesy of inflation. If so, inflation has caused an apparent trajectory. (When reversed I think this trajectory actually gives rise to the original singularity, (the Egg)).
From my reading it seems the Universe is much larger than 13.75 billion light years and the galaxies you refer to as being 13.5 billion years away really would be at a far greater distance now in real terms... I have read ..and the material seemed reasonable..that the universe is some 160 billion light year across so the 13 billion year old light says little as to where those galaxies are now ... but that is the inflation thing for you ..the light took 13 billion years to get here but the thing is really 80 billion light years from us today... and application of math can give us specifics for those who like things quantified but I think the premise of inflation allows such a view.
Maybe it is the matter that is shrinking so we assume it is space that is expanding
Anyway, apparently, matter & gravity combined after 9 billion years of inflation to form stars. So inflation which seemingly causes diverging trajectories (on the big scale) has been going a lot longer than gravity has !
Hang on if the light took 13 billion years to get here and the galaxies formed after 9 billion years does that not seem inconsistent with something
... the extrodinary deep field hubble captures certainly tell us that galaxies must have formed early but who is to say what is a short or long time here ...if we are looking at light that is 13.5 billion years old showing galaxies surely they must have been there 13.5 billion years ago....
If this is so, I don't get that gravity could have had enough time to create convergence of galaxies already set on very fast divergent trajectories. I guess it comes down to how far things were apart when gravity started to have a comparable influence on Inflation.
Galaxy speed in this context is related to expansion or inflation the galaxies themselves are not moving in relation to space ..space is just getting bigger...I think that is the way of it
.
Nowadays, I understand that the latest WMAP 7 year data set reveals a Hubble constant (the rate at which the universe is expanding) of 70.4 +/- 1.4 kms per sec per megaparsec. That's about 54 km/sec between Earth and Andromeda. I read that Andromeda is moving at about 100 to 140 km/sec towards the Milky Way.
MAybe space expansion moves at Hubbles constant and the movement towards each other is the gravity relationship
....
At the very least, I guess one could say that Inflation and Gravity seem to have comparable magnitudes in their influence on galaxies !
Interesting. And "Thank You" for all your comments. They are actually helping me to think through this. (Perhaps I'll become a better contributer to future forum discussions, as a result).
Thinking is good.
The most wonderful thing about this forum is the clever folk who contribute and although their apparent better understanding can make one feel unworthy of input all are helpful... I frustrate many by having the ordacity to attempt to comment but I feel it is often by expressing how you see it others can then point out where you are wrong...and there is never anything wrong with being wrong if in the discussion of merits one can learn more...in other words contribute and question just use beer and math in moderation.
Cheers