The Big Bang Theory
Table of contents
Introduction……………………………………………………….3
The model proposed by the Big Bang Theory…………………….3
The evidence that supports the Big Bang Theory…………………5
Conclusion…………………………………………………………6
References…………………………………………………………7
The Big Bang
According to our current understanding, in the very first second of its existence, due to the extreme conditions, our universe saw more change than in the 15 billion years that followed. This was the time when energy materialized into particles through an entire series of transitions, exploring many fundamental properties of this world much beyond the laws of physics that we currently know. Despite being unable to explain the reason of its occurrence, the scientific understanding has gone incredibly far and can give a very trustworthy outline of its evolution. In fact, the Big Bang Theory offers a very complex and detailed explanation of the origin of the universe that is deeply rooted in scientific arguments and experimental proves.
The Model Proposed by the Big Bang Theory
In the beginning there was no time and no space, there was nothing as everything was confined in what is called a space-time singularity, where our laws of physics do not work. Everything was created as a result and along with the Big Bang in a succession of several phases lasting an extremely varying amount of time.
During the Planck era that lasted from zero to 10-43 seconds, the universe was much smaller than an electron (10-35m) and had a temperature of 1032 K (Rhee, 2013). It is assumed that the four fundamental forces which are gravity, electromagnetism, the weak nuclear forces, and the strong nuclear forces were merged into a single unifying fundamental force.
During the Grand Unification era (10-43 to 10-36 seconds), three of the fundamental forces remain unified, while gravity separates and becomes a distinct force, this also being the time when the first elementary particles form (Rhee, 2013). These matter and anti-matter particles that are born occasionally are represented by quarks and anti-quarks respectively (quarks are the fundamental components of neutrons and protons) and annihilate each other in case of interaction.
The period of Cosmic Inflation (10–36 to 10–32 seconds) was caused by the splitting of the strong nuclear forces from the two remaining unified forces (Rhee, 2013). The incredibly energy-dense universe expands tremendously and exponentially in dimensions with a speed much higher than the speed of light and in a very short time, reaches the approximate size of an orange (Turner, 2013). Particle and anti-particle pairs continue to come into existence and annihilate each other transforming back into photons, the fundamental units (or quanta) of energy and light. However, along with the expansion, the temperature and the energy density of the system progressively diminish and the equilibrium of the energy-matter (and energy-antimatter) transitions changes towards an increasing accumulation of matter. In the epoch of Electroweak Forces (10–36 - 10–12 seconds), sporadic interactions between particles generate other rare and transient particles including the famous Higgs boson, believed to confer mass to everything.
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