Expansion is a word that refers to the growth process of something. In multiple senses and contexts the idea of expansion is used. Ideas expand and so does the economy of a country, a company or agriculture when a crop is spread over large territories.
To say that something expands and, consequently, grows, does not necessarily mean that it is something positive. A plague can spread and even a nation can. This last case is frequent in the history of humanity. There have been nations that have grown conquering other peoples and for them the process has not been positive, since they have been invaded. If one nation occupies the territories of another, it is said that there is an expansionist threat, something really worrying.
In the economy, expansion occurs when companies create higher rates of wealth and the population as a whole can purchase a greater quantity of goods and services. In these circumstances we speak of a period of economic expansion. Expansion also has negative connotations in the economy in some circumstances. In the monopoly phenomenon, a company grows to the point of having majority control of a specific market and its competitors play a residual role. It is a positive situation for the expanding company, negative for the competitors and will undoubtedly affect consumers who will have fewer options to choose one product or another.
It is in the field of astronomy where the phenomenon of expansion is scientifically studied. Since the human being observes the reality of the universe that surrounds him, he has wondered if the universe is static or if it is expanding. The latest research has shown through powerful telescopes that there are gravitational waves that are the obvious proof that after the initial explosion of the Universe (the so-called Big Band), it began to expand.
Almost any reality can be subject to expansion and in some way everything is, because we are part of the Universe that is expanding even though we do not appreciate it.
