© koto_feja / iStockAn abstract representation of gravitational waves.
Much about the early universe remains a mystery to us, but a team of researchers discovered that gravitational waves might hold the key to understanding why the Big Bang, the unthinkably colossal event that seeded the universe, created more matter than antimatter, according to a study recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
And this means the coming decade could reveal some of the most fundamental questions about the universe.
Filling the antimatter gap in physics with gravitational waves
The only reason we're here is because at one undefined moment in the first second of the history of the universe, more matter than anti-matter was generated. The former is literally everything you've ever seen, touched, and known — even in the most distant reaches of space. This asymmetry is so vast that only one extra particle of antimatter was generated per ten billion particles of matter. The issue is that, despite this imbalance, current theories of physicists have no explanation. The theories we have actually suggest that matter and anti-matter should have been created in equal numbers, but the persistence of humans, our planet, and everything else in the universe stress the need for a more comprehensive, unknown physics.
One promising idea hypothesized by many researchers is that this asymmetry is a result of the post-inflation conditions of the young universe, when everything was undergoing a mind-meltingly rapid expansion. If this is the case, a "field blob" might have stretched beyond observable horizons to evolve and fragment in a way suitable for the creation of an asymmetric distribution of matter vs. antimatter. But there's a catch to this theory. It's hard to verify, even with the world's largest particle accelerators, since the necessary energy is billions to trillions of times higher than what we simple humans can generate so far. But the team of researchers from the study might have found a way around it.
Q-ball decay creates violent vibrations in the early universe
Using blobs of field called "Q-balls," the researchers plan to analyze this popular hypothesis of a rapidly-expanding early universe causing an asymmetry. Q-balls aren't simple, but they're much like bosons or the Higgs boson. "A Higgs particle exists when the Higgs field is excited. But the Higgs field can do other things, like form a lump," said Graham White, a project researcher at Kavli IPMU, who is also the lead author of the study. "If you have a field that is very like the Higgs field but it has some sort of charge — not an electric charge, but some sort of charge — then one lump has the charge as one particle. Since charge can't just disappear, the field has to decide whether to be in particles or lumps."
"If it is lower energy to be in lumps than particles, then the field will do that," added White. "A bunch of lumps coagulating together will make a Q-ball." White and his colleagues argued that these blobs of fields (or Q-balls) remain for a while, and then dilute slower than "the background soup of radiation as the universe expands until, eventually, most of the energy in the universe is in these blobs. In the meantime, slight fluctuations in the density of the soup of radiation start to grow when these blobs dominate," and when the Q-balls undergo decay, it happens so fast that the resulting vibrations in the background plasma transform into violent soundwaves that create "spectacular ripples in space and time, known as gravitational waves, that could be detected over the next few decades." This means that our advancing study of gravitational waves is bringing us closer to the conditions of the very early universe. And it could provide an answer to the standing asymmetry between matter and antimatter.
Brad Bergan is a senior editor at Interesting Engineering, specializing in space and tech. Previously, he was a contributing editor at Futurism, and his words have appeared in or on VICE, Thinknum, 3:AM Magazine, The World Economic Forum, the National Book Critics Circle, and many other places.
Reader Comments
In the article it says 'The only reason we're here is because at one undefined moment in the first second of the history of the universe, more matter than anti-matter was generated'.
Too bad Planck is not alive, he would have put this bullshit all to rest. He said at a lecture in 1944:
"As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clearheaded science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as the result of my research about the atoms, this much: There is no matter as such! All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particles of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together."
He had a brilliant mind. He understood that empty space is not empty. We are all connected to this energy that surrounds us, our DNA communicates with it and the DNA of everyone else. We are also the architects of what is being created within this universe, it is fake but it is still a universe. What is so sad is what all these human creatures are creating right this minute, it is looking more like an image of the most brutal hell anyone can imagine.
Revelation of John 14:7-9
7. Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. 8. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 9. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
I have an image of that moment, which is in sharp contrast to present thinking, but is current thinking the problem and not the solution, I think so.
Holy shit, I was thinking how humans, who are being genetically modified with the fake vaccine, are going change the communication process with this universe in the future. Or maybe they will not be able to communicate at all, and will be at the mercy of AI completely. Just imagine, our DNA communicates with this field of energy, and this human DNA is now being altered; this is very bad news for the human species.
What's your thoughts on the Big Bang theory.
I responded to Mrs Pickles above in regards to the Big Bang theory.
I wrote: In the article it says 'The only reason we're here is because at one undefined moment in the first second of the history of the universe, more matter than anti-matter was generated'.
Too bad Planck is not alive, he would have put this bullshit all to rest. He said at a lecture in 1944:
"As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clearheaded science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as the result of my research about the atoms, this much: There is no matter as such! All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particles of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together."
He had a brilliant mind. He understood that empty space is not empty. We are all connected to this energy that surrounds us, our DNA communicates with it and the DNA of everyone else. We are also the architects of what is being created within this universe, it is fake but it is still a universe. What is so sad is what all these human creatures are creating right this minute, it is looking more like an image of the most brutal hell anyone can imagine.
It was interesting to read your thoughts.
I formulated my thoughts 32 years ago, and still main stream science bleats on about the same old nonsense and liken to anyone who has an opposing theory, one is dismissed.
Needless to say they'll NOT get anywhere quickly and try too hard in an inappropriate manner.
The Big Bang is not what it says on the tin but there's no surprises there.
Ninety-nine percent of the media is controlled to some extent just like tenured professors & researchers.
Real science does not happen in woke universities, fueled by government-controlled tax funding.