From everything I read, in the 1st zillionth of a second after the Big Bang, the universe underwent a period of inflation that swelled it to an enormous size almost immediately. Thereafter it continued to expand at it's normal rate within the bounds of physics.
My question has always been this: Is this period of inflation merely a "deus ex machina" to explain how the universe could be this large after only 13 billion years, or is there some sound physics backing up the idea that the universe could, momentarily, expand at speeds exponentially faster than the speed of light, after which the speed limit signs went up?
I guess, basically, I'm asking if the speed of light as a limit only came into play after inflation, or if the limit was somehow exceeded by physical forces no longer present in our universe.