Cosmic Inflation, the Beginning of the Universe, and the Origin of the Various Elements

The cosmic inflation hypothesis, its relation to fundamental theory on the beginning of the universe, and the light that both shed on how the various elements and their relative amounts came into existence. The fundamental factors controlling the origin of the universe ex nihilo are developed and from them the following alternative hypotheses are developed and presented: - an alternative to the inflation hypothesis, the purpose of which hypothesis is to explain how the structure in the universe developed from the initially unstructured and symmetrical Big Bang, and - an alternative to the hypothesis that the various elements in the universe were formed by nuclear fusion in stars [not denying that it may occur occasionally].