When the Big Bang occurred, matter, energy, space, and time were all formed, and the universe was infinitely dense and incredibly hot. The often-asked question “What came before the Big Bang?” is outside the realm of science because it can’t be answered by scientific means. In fact, science says little about the way the universe behaved until some 10–43 second after the Big Bang, when the Grand Unification Epoch began (and lasted only until about 10–35 second). Matter and energy were interchangeable and in equilibrium during this period, and the weak and strong nuclear forces and electromagnetism were all equivalent.
The universe cooled rapidly as it blew outward, however, and by 10–35 second after the Big Bang, the epoch of inflation occurred, enlarging the universe by a factor of 1050 in only 10–34 second. During this wild period, cosmic strings, monopoles, and other exotic species likely came to be. As sensational as inflation sounds, it explains several observations that would otherwise be difficult to reconcile. After inflating, the universe slowed down its expansion rate but continued to grow, as it does still. It also cooled significantly, allowing for the formation of matter — first neutrinos, electrons, quarks, and photons, followed by protons and neutrons. Likewise, antiparticles were produced in abundance, carrying the opposite charge of their corresponding particles (positrons along with electrons, for example).
As time went on and particles’ rest-mass energy was greater than the thermal energy of the universe, many were annihilated with their partners, producing gamma rays in the process. As more time crept by, these annihilations left an excess of ordinary matter over antimatter.
Chemistry has its roots deep in the history of the universe. At a key moment about one second after the Big Bang, nucleosynthesis took place and created deuterium along with the light elements helium and lithium. After some 10,000 years, the temperature of the universe cooled to the point where massive particles contributed more to the universe’s overall energy density than light and other radiation, which had dominated until then. This turned on gravity as a key player, and the little irregularities in the density of matter were magnified into structures as the universe expanded.
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