THE BIG BANG

W h ere do w e come from? W h at are w e? W h er e are w e goin g?

Perhaps the most uniquely human trait is that of curiosity: the relentless desire to discover, to comprehend, to simply know all there is to know about our universe and the human condition. Most peculiar of all is the sheer effort we put in as a species, and the sheer number of
competing theories we have generated, to answer just these three questions. At once appearing irrelevant to our quotidian survival yet seemingly of utmost importance to our collective humanity, they have endured because they touch on the primordial unknowns of existence: what
happened, and what will happen, outside the bounds of birth and death, both of individual humans and of the universe as a whole. Almost every culture and religion has its own answers to these questions, with many suggesting that various parts of our universe were formed from
various limbs or excreta of deities (for instance, ancient Greeks believed the Earth was formed from the eggshell of an avian god) - notably, the Judeo-Christian deity is one of the few for whom it is claimed that the universe was created solely by the power of His Word. Throughout
history, especially after the Renaissance, many have also attempted to answer some of these questions through scientific and empirical methods, most notably the Belgian Catholic priest Georges Lematre, who, just like the ancient Greeks, posited that the universe originated from an
egg - albeit a metaphorical one. His theory, of a universe expanding from an initial point of beginning, a Cosmic Egg exploding at the moment of the creation, as he put it, came amidst heated scientific debate about the finiteness of the universe, but over time, and after a number
of experimental results giving it more and more credence, it has grown to become the most commonly accepted theory as to the origins of the universe - the Big Bang theory.

t=10 -1 2 1 0 - 6 t=1 seco nd 3 t=37 7 ,0 0 0 y ears 3 80 ,00 0 y ears: t=15 0 mi llion 1 bi llion t=8.5 9 bi llion y ears: Sola r
t=0 1 0 - 4 3 seco nds (1 3 .7 9 9 0 .0 2 1 bill ion yea rs a go) -
seco nds: Q uark minutes: Lepton Ep och Decoupli ng a nd Reco mbinatio n yea rs: R eionisa tion Sys tem Forma tio n
P lanck ep oc h
Epo ch At this time, the universe As the density of the universe falls, and At this time, the first quasars At this time, the Sun, a late generation
The birth of the universe? Backwards extrapolation of the expansion
At this time, the four cools down to 109 kelvin. the temperature drops to ~3000 kelvin, (galactic nuclei) begin to form due star, is formed. A molecular cloud
of the universe with general relativity yields a singularity here - it
fundamental forces of After most hadrons and hydrogen and helium atoms begin to to gravitational collapse - the begins to collapse, forming a sphere in
would suggest that the entire universe was compressed into an
the Standard Model, antihadrons have form from the nuclei created earlier - this radiation emitted by these the centre (the Sun) and a surrounding
infinitesimally small space with infinite density and temperature. This
the strong, weak, annihilated each other, process of recombination, binding free quasars reionises the universe. accretion disc. Material in this
apparent mathematical impossibility suggests that general relativity
electromagnetic and leptons and antileptons protons into neutral atoms, frees up Thus the universe returns from accretion disc would clump together
cannot provide an accurate prediction of the events at this time - in
gravitational forces, (e.g. electrons and space in the universe allowing it to finally being neutral to being composed to form planets, asteroids and comets.
particular due to the high energies involved in the very early
now operate as distinct positrons) form the majority become transparent to light. Thus, this is of ionised plasma.
universe, it is likely that quantum mechanics would be a significant
forces. Matter can now of the mass of the universe. the first epoch that is observable today. It
factor here, something unaccounted for in the traditional model of
acquire mass by Gravity governs the also releases photons from the opaque
the Big Bang. With only knowledge gained from the universe at this
interacting with the expansion of the universe. photon-baryon fluid in which they have
present moment, it is impossible to extrapolate back to the exact
Higgs field. Quarks, Neutrinos begin to been interacting with protons and t=1 1 .5 billio n yea rs: Star and Ga la xy Fo rmation
moment of this singularity, as, at that moment, time and space did
electrons and neutrinos decouple from matter electrons (decoupling), the remnants of At this time, perturbations in the density of the plasma of the universe begin to
not yet exist so no radiation from before the Big Bang could be
begin to form. Although forming the cosmic which are visible today, having been red- develop; these are amplified by gravity and, once large enough, undergo
transmitted from this moment to the present day. Thus, we cannot
quarks and antiquarks neutrino background - shifted from visible red (3000 kelvin) to gravitational collapse, eventually becoming hot enough to trigger nuclear fusion
be sure as to what might have happened at this time - we can only
annihilate each other on there is compelling microwave radio waves as part of cosmic between hydrogen atoms forming stars. These first stars (Population III stars with
conjecture. This moment is what is typically referred to as the Big
contact, through (indirect) evidence for the background radiation. This cosmic virtually no heavy metals) begin the process of converting light elements formed in
Bang - ordinary space and time develop out of a primeval state and
baryogenesis some existence of this background radiation uniformly the Big Bang into heavier elements - they are very large (~100 times the mass of
the concept of measurable time becomes meaningful. It is known as
quarks survive, which background particle permeates space today at a temperature the Sun) and burn out quickly in supernovae; their ashes then go on to form
the Planck Epoch as it is the time before t is greater than Planck
will eventually combine radiation, which in turn of ~3 kelvin, and forms the most Population II (metal-poor) and Population III (metal-rich) stars in a similar manner.
time (10-43 seconds), a value of time considered in physics to be the
to form matter. provides evidence for the convincing evidence we have today of the Over time, large numbers of stars with large volumes of matter are themselves
smallest unit of time whose effect on the universe is non-negligible.
Big Bang. Big Bang. pulled together to form galaxies (large systems of stars bound together by gravity).

t=3 minutes 3 77 ,00 0 y ears: t=38 0 ,0 0 0 1 50 millio n

t=10 - 4 3 1 0 -3 6 seco nds:
Grand Unification Epoch
At this time, the universe,
while remaining
infinitesimally small, begins
to cool down to 1032 kelvin.
Around the same time,
gravity emerges as a
recognisable entity and
begins to operate, and,
according to the Grand
Unified Theory model, the
remaining fundamental
forces of the Standard
Model coalesce into the
electronuclear force (Grand
Unified Force) due to the
high energy of the
universe.
t=10 - 3 6 1 0 - 1 2 seco nds: E lectro wea k Epoc h t=10 -6 1 s econd: t=10 billio n y ears:
P hoton Epo ch yea rs: Da rk Ages
At this time, the universe cools down to 1028 kelvin - it is now cool Ha dro n Epoc h Forma tio n of P rimitiv e Lif e
By this time, most leptons and antileptons At this time, the universe is
enough to allow the strong force to separate from the electroweak At this time, the on E arth
have annihilated each other - the energy transparent but as no stars have
force. It is theorised that this might be the trigger for the explosion universe cools down to At this time, the first prokaryotic
of the universe is dominated by photons, formed to emit light, it is
of the Universe in the Big Bang. From t=10-36 10-32 seconds, the 1010 kelvin, allowing a organisms develop. This marks
and the universe is filled with plasma, an completely dark. This is the
universe inflates by a factor of 1026 to around 10cm (the size of a quark-hadron transition the start of evolutionary biology.
opaque soup of nuclei and electrons. Big period between the formation
grapefruit), while being supercooled to 1022 kelvin. Note that this to take place in which
Bang nucleosynthesis occurs from t=3 of the first atoms and the first
inflation is not a typical explosion. An explosion releases energy and quarks combine to
minutes to t=20 minutes - once the stars - very little of note
creates heat and pressure causing its seed (the trigger e.g. a bomb) form hadrons
temperature of the universe falls to t=109 happens during this time.
to expand into the pre-existing space around it as a hot ball of (composite particles
kelvin, widespread nuclear fusion across However, some scientists have t=13 .5 bill ion yea rs:
material. The objects moved by the explosion move with high made of quarks - e.g.
the entire universe can take place, forming recently speculated that, since Ev olution o f homo sapiens
velocity away from their initial location - they are unable to move protons and neutrons).
atomic nuclei (deuterium which then fuses from t=10 17 million years, Earliest discovered evidence of
faster than light speed. The inflation witnessed in the Big Bang, When electrons fuse
into helium-4) from protons and neutrons. the temperature of cosmic homo sapiens on the Earth.
however, is not the propulsion of matter through heat and pressure with protons to form
However, this process can only take place background radiation would
but an expansion of space itself (possible in Einsteins theory of neutrons, massless
for around 17 minutes, since after this time have been between 373 and
gravity), simply leaving more room for the objects inside it - thus as neutrinos are created,
the temperature and density of the 273 kelvin, allowing the
Einsteins theory puts no constraints on how fast space between which continue to
existence of liquid water,
universe are not high enough for fusion to
objects can appear the universe (with the matter it contains) can travel through space at t=13 .8 bill ion yea rs: N ow
take place. After this, the universe consists primitive life could have
expand very rapidly. near light speed today.
of ~75% hydrogen and 25% helium. appeared during this time.

EUAN ONG WA3 5W