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One of the deepest goals of physics is to help us understand our context. Are we humans at the center of everything or are we in an irrelevant little corner of the universe? Was the universe created with us in it? Or did it exist for unimaginable eons before we arrived. The answers to each of these questions helps us know our place or lack of it, in the universe. It helps us know how to live our lives. But nothing touches these issues more deeply than understanding the very birth of the universe. What, if anything, can we ever hope to reveal about those first few moments of creation. Hi, I'm Daniel Whitson. I'm a particle physicist and a professor at U C Irvine, and I am the co host of today's podcast, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, brought to you by iHeartRadio. Listeners of the podcast know that we love to examine big questions, deep questions, questions about things really far away, questions about things under our feet, questions about how things around us work. But we're also interested in the really deep questions, not just questions of space, but also questions of time and So, while Jorge is still away and not available today, I'm very pleased to have on the podcast today a friend of mine, a collaborator, a colleague, and a upcoming author of a book I think all of you would be excited about. His name is Dan Hooper. He is a theoretical astrophysicist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. In fact, he is the head of the Theoretical as physics group there, and he has a new book coming out about the beginning of the universe. It's called At the Edge of Time and it's going to be available November fifth from Princeton University Press. Now, I've had the opportunity to take a look in at advanced copy of this book, and I think it's awesome. It talks about a lot of the really amazing questions we like to dig into on the podcast. So without further ado, let me introduce to you my friend and colleague Dan Hooper.

One of the deepest goals of physics is to help us understand our context. Are we humans at the center of everything or are we in an irrelevant little corner of the universe? Was the universe created with us in it? Or did it exist for unimaginable eons before we arrived. The answers to each of these questions helps us know our place or lack of it, in the universe. It helps us know how to live our lives. But nothing touches these issues more deeply than understanding the very birth of the universe. What, if anything, can we ever hope to reveal about those first few moments of creation. Hi, I'm Daniel Whitson. I'm a particle physicist and a professor at U C Irvine, and I am the co host of today's podcast, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, brought to you by iHeartRadio. Listeners of the podcast know that we love to examine big questions, deep questions, questions about things really far away, questions about things under our feet, questions about how things around us work. But we're also interested in the really deep questions, not just questions of space, but also questions of time and So, while Jorge is still away and not available today, I'm very pleased to have on the podcast today a friend of mine, a collaborator, a colleague, and a upcoming author of a book I think all of you would be excited about. His name is Dan Hooper. He is a theoretical astrophysicist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. In fact, he is the head of the Theoretical as physics group there, and he has a new book coming out about the beginning of the universe. It's called At the Edge of Time and it's going to be available November fifth from Princeton University Press. Now, I've had the opportunity to take a look in at advanced copy of this book, and I think it's awesome. It talks about a lot of the really amazing questions we like to dig into on the podcast. So without further ado, let me introduce to you my friend and colleague Dan Hooper.

Thanks really excited to be here.

Thanks really excited to be here.

Yeah, well, thanks for coming on the podcast and talking to us about all the amazing and incredible things that we like to think about, and then apparently you like to write about. One thing we like to do on this podcast is talk about things that are on the cutting edge of science, things that scientists themselves are thinking about, but then trying to break it down in a way that makes sense to people. People can actually come away feeling like they understand what we're talking about, not just repeating various jargon. Thanks.

Yeah, well, thanks for coming on the podcast and talking to us about all the amazing and incredible things that we like to think about, and then apparently you like to write about. One thing we like to do on this podcast is talk about things that are on the cutting edge of science, things that scientists themselves are thinking about, but then trying to break it down in a way that makes sense to people. People can actually come away feeling like they understand what we're talking about, not just repeating various jargon. Thanks.

I really enjoy trying to think of ways to convey some of the scientific ideas that I explore my research for people who aren't scientists, whether that be non scientist friends or my family members. I really like stretching that part of my brain that one uses and communicating these exciting and very different ideas.

I really enjoy trying to think of ways to convey some of the scientific ideas that I explore my research for people who aren't scientists, whether that be non scientist friends or my family members. I really like stretching that part of my brain that one uses and communicating these exciting and very different ideas.

I think your book does a great job of this, of really conveying not just what we know, but also what we don't know, where the edge of knowledge is. And it does something else. It shows us that science is personal. I think one of the great things about your book is that it reflects who you are. Doesn't just show science for being some monolith of knowledge or some sort of objective intellectual pursuit, but it shows us that science really is of the people, by the people, and for the people, because in the end, science is just humans answering human questions for other humans.

I think your book does a great job of this, of really conveying not just what we know, but also what we don't know, where the edge of knowledge is. And it does something else. It shows us that science is personal. I think one of the great things about your book is that it reflects who you are. Doesn't just show science for being some monolith of knowledge or some sort of objective intellectual pursuit, but it shows us that science really is of the people, by the people, and for the people, because in the end, science is just humans answering human questions for other humans.

Science is always just a work in progress. The questions we're asking today will probably not be the questions that we find answer to ultimately, And when it comes to the sort of stuff that I work on, I would be shocked and maybe a little disappointed if it turns out that the ideas we have about how things are going to play out turn out to be right. I really like the mystery that's involved and the surprise when we find out something we weren't expecting.

Science is always just a work in progress. The questions we're asking today will probably not be the questions that we find answer to ultimately, And when it comes to the sort of stuff that I work on, I would be shocked and maybe a little disappointed if it turns out that the ideas we have about how things are going to play out turn out to be right. I really like the mystery that's involved and the surprise when we find out something we weren't expecting.

I cerainly hope, So I love scientific surprises. But tell me, what was your motivation for writing a popular science book about this, rather than just sort of continuing in the conversation at the level of academia. Why bring this question to the people.

I cerainly hope, So I love scientific surprises. But tell me, what was your motivation for writing a popular science book about this, rather than just sort of continuing in the conversation at the level of academia. Why bring this question to the people.

Long before I ever became a scientist, I loved popular physics books. I used to read any number of books by folks like Paul Davies and Mitchell Kaku and Kip Thorn, and this just blew my mind, learning about quantum mechanics and learning about relativity, cosmology and kind of the philosophical implications of all of it. So when I became a scientist, I decided it would be fun to kind of stretch my brain and try to try my hand at popular science writing myself. This isn't the first time I've written in a popular science book, but I haven't written popular science in a long time, and it's exciting new challenge. I love new challenges, and this was no exception wonderful.

Long before I ever became a scientist, I loved popular physics books. I used to read any number of books by folks like Paul Davies and Mitchell Kaku and Kip Thorn, and this just blew my mind, learning about quantum mechanics and learning about relativity, cosmology and kind of the philosophical implications of all of it. So when I became a scientist, I decided it would be fun to kind of stretch my brain and try to try my hand at popular science writing myself. This isn't the first time I've written in a popular science book, but I haven't written popular science in a long time, and it's exciting new challenge. I love new challenges, and this was no exception wonderful.

So as a theoretical astrophysicist and a cosmologist. You're dealing with questions about like the origin and the universe and the beginning of space and time, the very creation of our cosmos. When you travel around and say you're on an airplane and some random person asks you what do you do, do you have an easy time explaining to them what you do and why it's interesting, or do you get a sort of a lot of glazed looks.

So as a theoretical astrophysicist and a cosmologist. You're dealing with questions about like the origin and the universe and the beginning of space and time, the very creation of our cosmos. When you travel around and say you're on an airplane and some random person asks you what do you do, do you have an easy time explaining to them what you do and why it's interesting, or do you get a sort of a lot of glazed looks.

The reactions I get are kind of all over the map. Occasionally you get lucky and you start that conversation and the person is excited, and you know, maybe they think that's the perfect person to sit next to for the course of the flight. They always wanted to know about cosmology and finally have an opportunity to ask somebody all the questions they build up over time. And sometimes you sit next to somebody who just for whatever reason, they just don't have the you know, the kind of intellectual curiosity for this sort of subject that you or I might have. And and then sometimes you get the people who confuse cosmologists with cosmetologists, and that's pretty awkward. So yeah, you can you can have just about any kind of experience on a plane when you tell them about my line of.

The reactions I get are kind of all over the map. Occasionally you get lucky and you start that conversation and the person is excited, and you know, maybe they think that's the perfect person to sit next to for the course of the flight. They always wanted to know about cosmology and finally have an opportunity to ask somebody all the questions they build up over time. And sometimes you sit next to somebody who just for whatever reason, they just don't have the you know, the kind of intellectual curiosity for this sort of subject that you or I might have. And and then sometimes you get the people who confuse cosmologists with cosmetologists, and that's pretty awkward. So yeah, you can you can have just about any kind of experience on a plane when you tell them about my line of.

Work, are you willing to give advice on lipstick colors or not?

Work, are you willing to give advice on lipstick colors or not?

I mean, I'd be willing to give you my advice and just about anything, but I don't think you should take it. For one thing, I'm colorblind, so i'd probably be pretty bad at that job.

I mean, I'd be willing to give you my advice and just about anything, but I don't think you should take it. For one thing, I'm colorblind, so i'd probably be pretty bad at that job.

All right. Well, I think that these kind of topics are totally accessible because I think everybody wants to know the origins where we came from, because it tells us something about why we're here and what it means. And I posted a question on Twitter this week and I said, Hey, I get to ask a leading cosmologists questions about the beginning of the universe. What should I ask? And boy, our listeners really showed up. We got a long list of questions and we're going to listen to some of those questions and answer some of those questions. But I was just impressed at how much of a vein it touched in people. It doesn't surprise me. I'm excited about this stuff. I guess our listeners, of course, are also excited about this stuff. But I think it goes to something else about cosmology and early universe physics is that it really borders with philosophy. You know, some of the questions we ask are hard physics questions, like when was dark matter made? Do we have a model for the production of these nuclei? But the answers to those questions have broad reaching implications for philosophy, for the nature of our existence, the meaning of it, the context of it.

All right. Well, I think that these kind of topics are totally accessible because I think everybody wants to know the origins where we came from, because it tells us something about why we're here and what it means. And I posted a question on Twitter this week and I said, Hey, I get to ask a leading cosmologists questions about the beginning of the universe. What should I ask? And boy, our listeners really showed up. We got a long list of questions and we're going to listen to some of those questions and answer some of those questions. But I was just impressed at how much of a vein it touched in people. It doesn't surprise me. I'm excited about this stuff. I guess our listeners, of course, are also excited about this stuff. But I think it goes to something else about cosmology and early universe physics is that it really borders with philosophy. You know, some of the questions we ask are hard physics questions, like when was dark matter made? Do we have a model for the production of these nuclei? But the answers to those questions have broad reaching implications for philosophy, for the nature of our existence, the meaning of it, the context of it.

Throughout history, human beings of all times and all cultures have looked up at their night sky and wondered about the universe and how it came to be the way that it is. In that respect, we're just like all of those people, but in one important way we're really different. For the first time human history, when we look up at the night sky, we more or less know what it is we're looking at. We understand these things, and that's a truly new development. I think it's just amazing that we can take pictures of things in the sky, and when we see a star, we know how nuclear fusion works in its core, And when we see planets, we understand how they formed and why they behave the way they do and what they're made of. When we look at the expansion of the universe, and we look at the Big Bang. We understand how our universe evolved from its first second up to the current era, like over thirteen pointy eight billion years. I think that's absolutely flabbergasing, just amazing that we've been able to make this incredible human accomplishment.

Throughout history, human beings of all times and all cultures have looked up at their night sky and wondered about the universe and how it came to be the way that it is. In that respect, we're just like all of those people, but in one important way we're really different. For the first time human history, when we look up at the night sky, we more or less know what it is we're looking at. We understand these things, and that's a truly new development. I think it's just amazing that we can take pictures of things in the sky, and when we see a star, we know how nuclear fusion works in its core, And when we see planets, we understand how they formed and why they behave the way they do and what they're made of. When we look at the expansion of the universe, and we look at the Big Bang. We understand how our universe evolved from its first second up to the current era, like over thirteen pointy eight billion years. I think that's absolutely flabbergasing, just amazing that we've been able to make this incredible human accomplishment.

It's the kind of thing that if you went back a few hundred years and dropped that knowledge on leading minds of the day, they were minds would be blown right, It'd be hard for them to really even understand what you're talking about. And now we know those things, and that gives me enthusiasm that today's questions will one day be answered. The humans will know the answer to the questions we are struggling with today. Makes me want to jump in a time machine and fast forward in.

It's the kind of thing that if you went back a few hundred years and dropped that knowledge on leading minds of the day, they were minds would be blown right, It'd be hard for them to really even understand what you're talking about. And now we know those things, and that gives me enthusiasm that today's questions will one day be answered. The humans will know the answer to the questions we are struggling with today. Makes me want to jump in a time machine and fast forward in.

The long run. I'm definitely a scientific optimist. I think only a fool bets against the progress of science and the very long run. We might not solve every question tomorrow, but as long as human beings manage to exist and not destroy themselves, I don't think there are any answerable questions that we won't eventually answer.

The long run. I'm definitely a scientific optimist. I think only a fool bets against the progress of science and the very long run. We might not solve every question tomorrow, but as long as human beings manage to exist and not destroy themselves, I don't think there are any answerable questions that we won't eventually answer.

Wonderful Well, I noticed in your book that while your topics touch on these important matters that connect to philosophy. Unlike some other noted cosmologists, you sort of stayed in your lane and talked mostly about the physics. And so I want to take the opportunity to push you a little bit on this podcast. When we have an expert come in, we like to play a game we call ask the wrong expert. So I'm going to ask you some questions about philosophy, and this gives you an opportunity to, you know, pontificate ignorantly, and we don't expect you to be an ax. First question is about whether the universe actually exists. So do you think the universe, the physical universe A exists sort of outside of our human experience, like it would be there even if we weren't here to experience it. B only exists as a mathematical model in our minds. C is an unanswerable question we can never know. Or D you're already regretting coming onto our podcast, Well, I.

Wonderful Well, I noticed in your book that while your topics touch on these important matters that connect to philosophy. Unlike some other noted cosmologists, you sort of stayed in your lane and talked mostly about the physics. And so I want to take the opportunity to push you a little bit on this podcast. When we have an expert come in, we like to play a game we call ask the wrong expert. So I'm going to ask you some questions about philosophy, and this gives you an opportunity to, you know, pontificate ignorantly, and we don't expect you to be an ax. First question is about whether the universe actually exists. So do you think the universe, the physical universe A exists sort of outside of our human experience, like it would be there even if we weren't here to experience it. B only exists as a mathematical model in our minds. C is an unanswerable question we can never know. Or D you're already regretting coming onto our podcast, Well, I.

Definitely come down on C for this one. All we can really do is organize our consciousness experiences, including our observations of the world, try to make sense of them, try to come up with or organizing principles or theories if you will, that explain as much about our observations as we can, and then use those theories to make predictions about what will happen in our conscious experience going forward. It could be that those theories we construct in that way map very precisely or closely onto something real, a real world that those theories describe, or maybe not. We don't really have any way of finding out. But it doesn't really matter, because science works even if the world it describes is not a real thing. I have a supercomputer in my pocket in the form of a cell phone, and that thing works because of the scientific method, And you know, modern medicine and transistors and any number of other amazing modern technologies work because of the scientific method, even if the world that it underpins is very different from that described in our theories.

Definitely come down on C for this one. All we can really do is organize our consciousness experiences, including our observations of the world, try to make sense of them, try to come up with or organizing principles or theories if you will, that explain as much about our observations as we can, and then use those theories to make predictions about what will happen in our conscious experience going forward. It could be that those theories we construct in that way map very precisely or closely onto something real, a real world that those theories describe, or maybe not. We don't really have any way of finding out. But it doesn't really matter, because science works even if the world it describes is not a real thing. I have a supercomputer in my pocket in the form of a cell phone, and that thing works because of the scientific method, And you know, modern medicine and transistors and any number of other amazing modern technologies work because of the scientific method, even if the world that it underpins is very different from that described in our theories.

Well, that's amazing. I agree with you. We might not be able to answer it, but to me, it matters deeply whether what we're doing is just sort of playing in our minds or answering real questions about the universe. And that's one of the reasons why I'm very much looking forward to the day when we meet alien physicists and perhaps get a chance to understand how a different kind of consciousness might probe the universe and maybe draw some sort of triangulation there about what's really happening. But in the end, I agree with you, we probably can't ever know. But that leads me to my second question about the working of the human brain. Do you think that the human brain is either a deterministic like a big complicated mechanical watch in which we have no free will, B deterministic, but yet there's somehow still room in there for free will C nondeterministic because of quantum mechanics like Penrose things, or D nondeterministic because of sort sort of magic, supernatural extra extra physical force.

Well, that's amazing. I agree with you. We might not be able to answer it, but to me, it matters deeply whether what we're doing is just sort of playing in our minds or answering real questions about the universe. And that's one of the reasons why I'm very much looking forward to the day when we meet alien physicists and perhaps get a chance to understand how a different kind of consciousness might probe the universe and maybe draw some sort of triangulation there about what's really happening. But in the end, I agree with you, we probably can't ever know. But that leads me to my second question about the working of the human brain. Do you think that the human brain is either a deterministic like a big complicated mechanical watch in which we have no free will, B deterministic, but yet there's somehow still room in there for free will C nondeterministic because of quantum mechanics like Penrose things, or D nondeterministic because of sort sort of magic, supernatural extra extra physical force.

I think this is a really good question, but I don't think any of my answer really falls into any of these four categories or ABC or D. So I'm going to kind of give you my own e if you will answer. So. I think the laws of are not deterministic. Quantum mechanics doesn't appear to be deterministic. It might be in some sort of everready in mini world sense, But as far as any experiment I would conduct, I can only probabilistically work out what's going to happen in that experiment. So, for all intents and purposes, the laws of physics are not deterministic, and since the human brain is a machine that follows the laws of physics in our world, it also is not deterministic. But as far as free will is concerned, I don't think that matters. What I mean by that is just because something in my brain is random and not predictable doesn't mean I'm free to make any choices. If I walked around flipping a coin to decide whether I'm going to do thing A or thing B next, that doesn't give me any freedom. It just means I'm not predictable. So, at least in any morally culpable sense, I don't believe there's any reason to think there's free will in you.

I think this is a really good question, but I don't think any of my answer really falls into any of these four categories or ABC or D. So I'm going to kind of give you my own e if you will answer. So. I think the laws of are not deterministic. Quantum mechanics doesn't appear to be deterministic. It might be in some sort of everready in mini world sense, But as far as any experiment I would conduct, I can only probabilistically work out what's going to happen in that experiment. So, for all intents and purposes, the laws of physics are not deterministic, and since the human brain is a machine that follows the laws of physics in our world, it also is not deterministic. But as far as free will is concerned, I don't think that matters. What I mean by that is just because something in my brain is random and not predictable doesn't mean I'm free to make any choices. If I walked around flipping a coin to decide whether I'm going to do thing A or thing B next, that doesn't give me any freedom. It just means I'm not predictable. So, at least in any morally culpable sense, I don't believe there's any reason to think there's free will in you.

That's a very sophisticated answer. I think I agree with you on all points, and we're actually going to dig into that in depth in a future episode of this podcast. So thanks for playing along with our silly game. But the reason we brought you onto the podcast is to talk about what you are an expert in, and that's the early universe and the very beginning of time, and so I want to dig into the details and pick your brain about how our universe began. But first, let's take a quick break. With big wireless providers, what you see is never what you get. Somewhere between the store and your first month's bill, the price you thought you were paying magically skyrockets. With mint Mobile, You'll never have to worry about gotcha's ever again. When Mint Mobile says fifteen dollars a month for a three month plan, they really mean it. I've used mint Mobile and the call quality is always so crisp and so clear. I can recommend it to you, So say bye bye to your overpriced wireless plans, jaw dropping monthly bills and unexpected overages. You can use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan and bring your phone number along with your existing contacts. So dig your overpriced wireless with mint Mobiles deal and get three months a premium wireless service for fifteen bucks a month. To get this new customer offer and your new three month premium wireless plan for just fifteen bucks a month, go to mintmobile dot com slash universe. That's mintmobile dot com slash universe. Cut your wireless build to fifteen bucks a month at mintmobile dot com Slash Universe. Forty five dollars upfront payment required equivalent to fifteen dollars per month new customers on first three month plan only speeds slower about forty gigabytes On unlimited plan. Additional taxi speeds and restrictions apply. See mint mobile for details.

That's a very sophisticated answer. I think I agree with you on all points, and we're actually going to dig into that in depth in a future episode of this podcast. So thanks for playing along with our silly game. But the reason we brought you onto the podcast is to talk about what you are an expert in, and that's the early universe and the very beginning of time, and so I want to dig into the details and pick your brain about how our universe began. But first, let's take a quick break. With big wireless providers, what you see is never what you get. Somewhere between the store and your first month's bill, the price you thought you were paying magically skyrockets. With mint Mobile, You'll never have to worry about gotcha's ever again. When Mint Mobile says fifteen dollars a month for a three month plan, they really mean it. I've used mint Mobile and the call quality is always so crisp and so clear. I can recommend it to you, So say bye bye to your overpriced wireless plans, jaw dropping monthly bills and unexpected overages. You can use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan and bring your phone number along with your existing contacts. So dig your overpriced wireless with mint Mobiles deal and get three months a premium wireless service for fifteen bucks a month. To get this new customer offer and your new three month premium wireless plan for just fifteen bucks a month, go to mintmobile dot com slash universe. That's mintmobile dot com slash universe. Cut your wireless build to fifteen bucks a month at mintmobile dot com Slash Universe. Forty five dollars upfront payment required equivalent to fifteen dollars per month new customers on first three month plan only speeds slower about forty gigabytes On unlimited plan. Additional taxi speeds and restrictions apply. See mint mobile for details.

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If you love iPhone, you'll love Applecard. It's the credit card designed for iPhone. It gives you unlimited daily cash back that can earn four point four zero percent annual percentage yield. When you open a high Yield Savings account through Applecard, apply for Applecard in the wallet app subject to credit approval. Savings is available to Applecard owners subject to eligibility. Apple Card and Savings by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City Branch, Member FDIC, terms and more at applecard dot com. Okay, we're back and we're talking with Dan Hooper. He is a theoretical physicist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the author of the upcoming book At the Edge of Time, which explores the very beginning of the Universe. And Dan, first question for you I have about what you actually know about is about how the universe began. I would love if you would sort of walk us through the very beginning of the universe. And I'll give you two options here. Either walk us through forwards from the moments of creation or backwards from what we actually know into what we don't know, But I'd love a sort of tour of the very first moments of the universe.

If you love iPhone, you'll love Applecard. It's the credit card designed for iPhone. It gives you unlimited daily cash back that can earn four point four zero percent annual percentage yield. When you open a high Yield Savings account through Applecard, apply for Applecard in the wallet app subject to credit approval. Savings is available to Applecard owners subject to eligibility. Apple Card and Savings by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City Branch, Member FDIC, terms and more at applecard dot com. Okay, we're back and we're talking with Dan Hooper. He is a theoretical physicist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the author of the upcoming book At the Edge of Time, which explores the very beginning of the Universe. And Dan, first question for you I have about what you actually know about is about how the universe began. I would love if you would sort of walk us through the very beginning of the universe. And I'll give you two options here. Either walk us through forwards from the moments of creation or backwards from what we actually know into what we don't know, But I'd love a sort of tour of the very first moments of the universe.

So even if you hadn't given me the option, I definitely would have suggested going from the present backwards because that's just a lot easier way to describe it. So let me do it that way. When we look at it out at our universe today, we see that space is expanding. And what I mean by that is all the objects in space, at least the objects that are far away, like galaxies, for example, they're all moving away from us, and the farther away something is from us, the faster it's moving away from us. This is because any two points in space, the amount of space between them is growing as time goes on. This is something we call Hubble's law. So because space is expanding, that means that in the past our universe was more compact, more dense, and as a consequence, it was hotter, and in the future it will be less dense and even cooler than it is today. So if you run those equations backwards, you'll eventually point a time reach a point in time where the universe was very hot. So thirteen point eight billion years ago, only a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang, you reach a point where the entire universe was filled with some light and electrons and protons and things that were all at a temperature of a three thousand degrees. So three thousand degrees is an important point in the history of the universe because at three thousand degrees you find that atoms begin to melt. This is what I mean by that. So if I take some ordinary atoms and I dump it in some thermal baths somewhere that has a temperature of more than three thousand degrees, well, if I do that, those atoms, all the electrons that are bound up on those atoms are going to break off. They're gonna basically those atoms are going to fall apart into their protons and nuclei and electrons. So that means that before this this key point, three hundred and eighty thousand years after the Big Bang, the universe was full of electrons and protons and nuclei, but no neutral atoms. And then after this point, basically all those things glued together into electrically neutral atoms. Before that transition, the universe was opaque, meaning light couldn't tran couldn't move through space because of all of these charge particles in it. But after this point, the universe became transparent to light. And that means that at this transition, an awful lot of light was dumped into the universe, and that light exists everywhere today. It's moving in all directions and in all places, and in fact, in this very room, or any room, every cubic centimeter of space has over four hundred photons that were produced in this transition. We call that the causing microwave background, and over the last fifty years or so, cosmologists have been studying this in greater and greater detail. A lot of what we know about our universe's history comes directly from observing that light that was released when the first atoms are formed, only a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang.

So even if you hadn't given me the option, I definitely would have suggested going from the present backwards because that's just a lot easier way to describe it. So let me do it that way. When we look at it out at our universe today, we see that space is expanding. And what I mean by that is all the objects in space, at least the objects that are far away, like galaxies, for example, they're all moving away from us, and the farther away something is from us, the faster it's moving away from us. This is because any two points in space, the amount of space between them is growing as time goes on. This is something we call Hubble's law. So because space is expanding, that means that in the past our universe was more compact, more dense, and as a consequence, it was hotter, and in the future it will be less dense and even cooler than it is today. So if you run those equations backwards, you'll eventually point a time reach a point in time where the universe was very hot. So thirteen point eight billion years ago, only a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang, you reach a point where the entire universe was filled with some light and electrons and protons and things that were all at a temperature of a three thousand degrees. So three thousand degrees is an important point in the history of the universe because at three thousand degrees you find that atoms begin to melt. This is what I mean by that. So if I take some ordinary atoms and I dump it in some thermal baths somewhere that has a temperature of more than three thousand degrees, well, if I do that, those atoms, all the electrons that are bound up on those atoms are going to break off. They're gonna basically those atoms are going to fall apart into their protons and nuclei and electrons. So that means that before this this key point, three hundred and eighty thousand years after the Big Bang, the universe was full of electrons and protons and nuclei, but no neutral atoms. And then after this point, basically all those things glued together into electrically neutral atoms. Before that transition, the universe was opaque, meaning light couldn't tran couldn't move through space because of all of these charge particles in it. But after this point, the universe became transparent to light. And that means that at this transition, an awful lot of light was dumped into the universe, and that light exists everywhere today. It's moving in all directions and in all places, and in fact, in this very room, or any room, every cubic centimeter of space has over four hundred photons that were produced in this transition. We call that the causing microwave background, and over the last fifty years or so, cosmologists have been studying this in greater and greater detail. A lot of what we know about our universe's history comes directly from observing that light that was released when the first atoms are formed, only a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang.

All right, but let me ask you a question there to clarify. So you're saying, we look out of the universe, we see that things are expanding, and if we want to run the clock backwards, we say, well, therefore things must have been denser before, because things are getting less dense now. And so the universe now is transparent light can fly through it. It seems, you know, we can look out in the night sky and see billions of light years away as you run the clock backwards until everything sort of scrunches back together, and you talk about this plasma that fills all of space. Now, I think a lot of our listeners probably imagine that the Big Bang is sort of the creation from a one point, that everything in the universe came from one spot. And so if you talk about running the clock backwards from the current universe and getting to something that fills all of space, I think I wonder if our listeners have a clear mental picture of what that means. Like, are you saying that the cosmic microwave background was created by a plasma that literally filled the entire universe or was the stuff in the universe sort of smaller and more localized back then.

All right, but let me ask you a question there to clarify. So you're saying, we look out of the universe, we see that things are expanding, and if we want to run the clock backwards, we say, well, therefore things must have been denser before, because things are getting less dense now. And so the universe now is transparent light can fly through it. It seems, you know, we can look out in the night sky and see billions of light years away as you run the clock backwards until everything sort of scrunches back together, and you talk about this plasma that fills all of space. Now, I think a lot of our listeners probably imagine that the Big Bang is sort of the creation from a one point, that everything in the universe came from one spot. And so if you talk about running the clock backwards from the current universe and getting to something that fills all of space, I think I wonder if our listeners have a clear mental picture of what that means. Like, are you saying that the cosmic microwave background was created by a plasma that literally filled the entire universe or was the stuff in the universe sort of smaller and more localized back then.

Probably the single biggest misconception about the Big Bang is that it was some event that took place at some place, some explosion that all the stuff came out of. But that's kind of misses the point. So when I say the cosmic microwave back fills all of space today, I mean all of space everywhere, and when it was formed. It was formed at a point in time where the entire universe, all of space, was filled with this three thousand degree plasma that slowly or solely transformed into a three thousand degree gas of electrically neutral particles. And if you go back farther, it's not that the Big Bang happened somewhere, it's that the entire universe was in this hot and dense state. The Big Bang wasn't something that happened in one place. It was a state that the universe started out in.

Probably the single biggest misconception about the Big Bang is that it was some event that took place at some place, some explosion that all the stuff came out of. But that's kind of misses the point. So when I say the cosmic microwave back fills all of space today, I mean all of space everywhere, and when it was formed. It was formed at a point in time where the entire universe, all of space, was filled with this three thousand degree plasma that slowly or solely transformed into a three thousand degree gas of electrically neutral particles. And if you go back farther, it's not that the Big Bang happened somewhere, it's that the entire universe was in this hot and dense state. The Big Bang wasn't something that happened in one place. It was a state that the universe started out in.

So I wonder if people would find it more natural to talk about space being more dense or the stuff in space being more dense, rather than actually being smaller, because it sounds like you're talking about sort of stretching out the space between the stuff, not actually shrinking it down into a dot. But it's pretty hard to get your mind around an infinite universe filled with an infinite amount of stuff and having it still squished down into an infinite universe.

So I wonder if people would find it more natural to talk about space being more dense or the stuff in space being more dense, rather than actually being smaller, because it sounds like you're talking about sort of stretching out the space between the stuff, not actually shrinking it down into a dot. But it's pretty hard to get your mind around an infinite universe filled with an infinite amount of stuff and having it still squished down into an infinite universe.

Well, there are a couple of different ways you can think about it. One way you can think about it is to imagine that the universe might not go on in all directions forever. It might not be infinite, and we don't know it's possible that that's true. Maybe the universe, if you go far enough in one direction, wraps around on itself, and this would be much farther away than we can see at the present time. But maybe if you went far enough, you'd find you'd come out back where you started. I like to use the analogy of the old arcade game from my youth, Asteroids. If you fly the spaceship off the side of the screen Asteroids, you come out on the opposite side of the screen. Maybe our universe works this way too, And if that's the case, then essentially the screen that you're playing on in to take my analogy further, has been expanding, and that means that the total volume of the screen or area of the screen and the two dimensional example, was smaller in the past, but still the screen occupied all of the space that existed at the time. So if that helps you to think about it better, that's one way you can imagine expanding space without imagining, for example, space growing into something or or the Big Bang happening somewhere as opposed to everywhere at the same time.

Well, there are a couple of different ways you can think about it. One way you can think about it is to imagine that the universe might not go on in all directions forever. It might not be infinite, and we don't know it's possible that that's true. Maybe the universe, if you go far enough in one direction, wraps around on itself, and this would be much farther away than we can see at the present time. But maybe if you went far enough, you'd find you'd come out back where you started. I like to use the analogy of the old arcade game from my youth, Asteroids. If you fly the spaceship off the side of the screen Asteroids, you come out on the opposite side of the screen. Maybe our universe works this way too, And if that's the case, then essentially the screen that you're playing on in to take my analogy further, has been expanding, and that means that the total volume of the screen or area of the screen and the two dimensional example, was smaller in the past, but still the screen occupied all of the space that existed at the time. So if that helps you to think about it better, that's one way you can imagine expanding space without imagining, for example, space growing into something or or the Big Bang happening somewhere as opposed to everywhere at the same time.

Yeah, and I think that it's just hard for us to grasp the concept of infinity. Like, if you take a ruler, there's an infinite number of places on that ruler between you know, one inch and two inch, because you know, there's an infinite number of real numbers. If you shrunk that ruler, there would still be an infinite number of places, right. The infinity doesn't get less infinite just because you shrunk it, which is sort of counterintuitive.

Yeah, and I think that it's just hard for us to grasp the concept of infinity. Like, if you take a ruler, there's an infinite number of places on that ruler between you know, one inch and two inch, because you know, there's an infinite number of real numbers. If you shrunk that ruler, there would still be an infinite number of places, right. The infinity doesn't get less infinite just because you shrunk it, which is sort of counterintuitive.

Okay, So let's go back even farther in time now. So instead of talking about the universe as it was a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang, let's go back to the first seconds or minutes after the Big Bang. In this state, the universe was at a billion degrees everywhere throughout all of space, and at a billion degrees, things start to resemble what you would find today inside the core of very massive stars, and that means that nuclear reactions can efficiently go on so throughout the entire universe. During these first seconds and minutes, the entire universe functioned like a giant nuclear fusion reactor. Protons and neutrons, which up until this point have been free, were being combined to form things like deuterium and helium and lithium and beryllium and releasing energy in the process. And we can use our theories to calculate how much of all of this should have been formed, how much helium, hydrogen, deuterium, lithium, and brillium. And when we go out and measure how much of these things there are in the universe, it turns out that it gives the right answer. So that gives us a lot of confidence that we understand how our universe has expanded and evolved from about the first second after the Big Bang up to the present.

Okay, So let's go back even farther in time now. So instead of talking about the universe as it was a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang, let's go back to the first seconds or minutes after the Big Bang. In this state, the universe was at a billion degrees everywhere throughout all of space, and at a billion degrees, things start to resemble what you would find today inside the core of very massive stars, and that means that nuclear reactions can efficiently go on so throughout the entire universe. During these first seconds and minutes, the entire universe functioned like a giant nuclear fusion reactor. Protons and neutrons, which up until this point have been free, were being combined to form things like deuterium and helium and lithium and beryllium and releasing energy in the process. And we can use our theories to calculate how much of all of this should have been formed, how much helium, hydrogen, deuterium, lithium, and brillium. And when we go out and measure how much of these things there are in the universe, it turns out that it gives the right answer. So that gives us a lot of confidence that we understand how our universe has expanded and evolved from about the first second after the Big Bang up to the present.

All right, but that's sort of in more indirect evidence than the stuff we know about later, Like when we talk about this cosmic microwave background radiation, that's sort of a smoking gun that that plasma existed because we're seeing it, whereas the indirect evidence is just sort of like the expansion of the universe. Now we're talking about things that happened before that that we can't directly see because the universe was opaque. You're talking about developing models that predict what we would see today if that were true, and then we find that stuff that's confirmation, But could we find more direct evidence would be possible to see more crisply into that sort of initial plasma those hot fusion seconds and prove more directly that that really happened.

All right, but that's sort of in more indirect evidence than the stuff we know about later, Like when we talk about this cosmic microwave background radiation, that's sort of a smoking gun that that plasma existed because we're seeing it, whereas the indirect evidence is just sort of like the expansion of the universe. Now we're talking about things that happened before that that we can't directly see because the universe was opaque. You're talking about developing models that predict what we would see today if that were true, and then we find that stuff that's confirmation, But could we find more direct evidence would be possible to see more crisply into that sort of initial plasma those hot fusion seconds and prove more directly that that really happened.

Well, first of all, I think the evidence that the universe played out in the way that the big Bang theory predicts from the first few seconds onward is pretty strong. It would be quite a coincidence if the ratios of all those light nuclear elements matched what we observed just by you know, just sheer coincidence. So I think probably it'll be a pretty good reason to think that that's how things played out. That being said, there are ways that we one day could hope to more directly measure this era of cosmic history. It's a little bit science fiction y because it's very hard to do, but someday I think we will directly measure the neutrinos that were released from our universe about a second after the Big Bang, so kind of like the light was released into the universe a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang, those neutrinos started to be able to travel safely through the universe without interacting too much at about a second after the Big Bang. In other words, the universe became transparent to neutrinos very shortly after the Big Bang. Now, these neutrinos are very hard to detect, and there are some ideas about how one might go about doing it. But I think, you know, some decades from now, it's very possible that we'll be measuring these neutrinos and studying them, studying those neutrinos in the same sort of way we currently study the photons that were released much later.

Well, first of all, I think the evidence that the universe played out in the way that the big Bang theory predicts from the first few seconds onward is pretty strong. It would be quite a coincidence if the ratios of all those light nuclear elements matched what we observed just by you know, just sheer coincidence. So I think probably it'll be a pretty good reason to think that that's how things played out. That being said, there are ways that we one day could hope to more directly measure this era of cosmic history. It's a little bit science fiction y because it's very hard to do, but someday I think we will directly measure the neutrinos that were released from our universe about a second after the Big Bang, so kind of like the light was released into the universe a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang, those neutrinos started to be able to travel safely through the universe without interacting too much at about a second after the Big Bang. In other words, the universe became transparent to neutrinos very shortly after the Big Bang. Now, these neutrinos are very hard to detect, and there are some ideas about how one might go about doing it. But I think, you know, some decades from now, it's very possible that we'll be measuring these neutrinos and studying them, studying those neutrinos in the same sort of way we currently study the photons that were released much later.

Wonderful. That's a great point. Think. The cosmic microwave background radiation is fascinating because it's light we directly see from the early universe, and of course it's limited because before that time the universe was opaque. The light that was created before that was reabsorbed. But as you point out, neutrinos operate differently, and the universe is transparent to neutrinos today, and it was transparent earlier, right that cosmic microwave background or sorry, that initial plasma in the first one hundred thousand years or fifty thousand years or first few minutes of the universe. The universe was still transparent to neutrinos, then, that's what you're saying, and so we can see those initial neutrinos. That's right.

Wonderful. That's a great point. Think. The cosmic microwave background radiation is fascinating because it's light we directly see from the early universe, and of course it's limited because before that time the universe was opaque. The light that was created before that was reabsorbed. But as you point out, neutrinos operate differently, and the universe is transparent to neutrinos today, and it was transparent earlier, right that cosmic microwave background or sorry, that initial plasma in the first one hundred thousand years or fifty thousand years or first few minutes of the universe. The universe was still transparent to neutrinos, then, that's what you're saying, and so we can see those initial neutrinos. That's right.

I mean it won't be easy. The same reason that the universe was transparent to neutrinos so early makes those neutrinos really hard to detect. But we do imagine one day we'll be able to conduct a sort of measurements that would actually be able to detect these neutrinos and learn what that our universe was like only a second after the Big Bang, much more directly than we currently can.

I mean it won't be easy. The same reason that the universe was transparent to neutrinos so early makes those neutrinos really hard to detect. But we do imagine one day we'll be able to conduct a sort of measurements that would actually be able to detect these neutrinos and learn what that our universe was like only a second after the Big Bang, much more directly than we currently can.

And that's just another reason why we should keep sort of opening new eyes to the universe, looking at the universe through electromagnetic radiation, through neutrinos, through gravitational waves, because they give us power to look further and further back in the universe and see different kinds of stuff. But we haven't seen that yet, right, that's right.

And that's just another reason why we should keep sort of opening new eyes to the universe, looking at the universe through electromagnetic radiation, through neutrinos, through gravitational waves, because they give us power to look further and further back in the universe and see different kinds of stuff. But we haven't seen that yet, right, that's right.

We can't do these sort of direct observations of the first second or fraction of a second, yet there's no reason to think that in the distant future cosmologists won't be able to do precisely that.

We can't do these sort of direct observations of the first second or fraction of a second, yet there's no reason to think that in the distant future cosmologists won't be able to do precisely that.

Well, this is a perfect spot to take a break. We'll be right back when you pop a piece of cheese into your mouth or enjoy a rich spoonful of Greek yogurt. You're probably not thinking about the environmental impact of each and every bite, but the people in the dairy industry are. US Dairy has set themselves some ambitious sustainability goals, including being greenhouse gas neutral by twenty to fifty. That's why they're working hard every day to find new ways to reduce waste, conserve natural resources, and drive down greenhouse gas emissions. Take water, for example, most dairy farms reuse water up to four times the same water cools the milk, cleans equipment, washes the barn, and irrigates the crops. How is US Dairy tackling greenhouse gases. Many farms use anaerobic digestors that turn the methane from maneuver into renewable energy that can power farms, towns, and electric cars. So the next time you grab a slice of pizza or lick an ice cream cone, know that dairy farmers and processors around the country are using the latest practices and innovations to provide the nutrient dense dairy products we love with less of an impact. Visit usdairy dot com slash sustainability to learn more.

Well, this is a perfect spot to take a break. We'll be right back when you pop a piece of cheese into your mouth or enjoy a rich spoonful of Greek yogurt. You're probably not thinking about the environmental impact of each and every bite, but the people in the dairy industry are. US Dairy has set themselves some ambitious sustainability goals, including being greenhouse gas neutral by twenty to fifty. That's why they're working hard every day to find new ways to reduce waste, conserve natural resources, and drive down greenhouse gas emissions. Take water, for example, most dairy farms reuse water up to four times the same water cools the milk, cleans equipment, washes the barn, and irrigates the crops. How is US Dairy tackling greenhouse gases. Many farms use anaerobic digestors that turn the methane from maneuver into renewable energy that can power farms, towns, and electric cars. So the next time you grab a slice of pizza or lick an ice cream cone, know that dairy farmers and processors around the country are using the latest practices and innovations to provide the nutrient dense dairy products we love with less of an impact. Visit usdairy dot com slash sustainability to learn more.

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All right, so take us further back. We were with a few minutes after the Big Bang, So.

All right, so take us further back. We were with a few minutes after the Big Bang, So.

Going back even further into the first seconds or first fractions of a second after the Big Bang, we don't really have any direct way to create images or even to see the stuff that emerge from this period of our universe's history. So instead, what we have to do is we have to rely on experiments that we can do in the laboratory where we try to recreate the conditions of the very early universe and just to understand what the laws of physics were at that very very early time. So the main experiments I'm talking about are what we call particle accelerators, which you know very well of course, Daniel, So right now, the world's most powerful particle accelerator is the Large Hadron Collider. The Large Hadron Collider is a seventeen mile underground circular tunnel, and around that tunnel powerful magnets accelerate protons to nearly the speed of light. I think the number is ninety nine point nine nine nine seven percent of the speed of light, awfully close to the maximum speed limit of the universe. We then take those protons and collide them head on inside of big detectors. And the goal here is to put as much energy at one place at one time, and through Einstein's equals mc squared, we convert that energy into mass, so we can create exotic forms of matter that don't exist very accessibly or readily in our universe today. In twenty twelve, we discovered the Higgs boson this way. But there are a bunch of different kinds of quarks and leptons and things called gauge bosons, and all of these things we can study, and these particle accelerators, and all of these things we think were plentiful and abundant throughout the universe's early fraction of a second.

Going back even further into the first seconds or first fractions of a second after the Big Bang, we don't really have any direct way to create images or even to see the stuff that emerge from this period of our universe's history. So instead, what we have to do is we have to rely on experiments that we can do in the laboratory where we try to recreate the conditions of the very early universe and just to understand what the laws of physics were at that very very early time. So the main experiments I'm talking about are what we call particle accelerators, which you know very well of course, Daniel, So right now, the world's most powerful particle accelerator is the Large Hadron Collider. The Large Hadron Collider is a seventeen mile underground circular tunnel, and around that tunnel powerful magnets accelerate protons to nearly the speed of light. I think the number is ninety nine point nine nine nine seven percent of the speed of light, awfully close to the maximum speed limit of the universe. We then take those protons and collide them head on inside of big detectors. And the goal here is to put as much energy at one place at one time, and through Einstein's equals mc squared, we convert that energy into mass, so we can create exotic forms of matter that don't exist very accessibly or readily in our universe today. In twenty twelve, we discovered the Higgs boson this way. But there are a bunch of different kinds of quarks and leptons and things called gauge bosons, and all of these things we can study, and these particle accelerators, and all of these things we think were plentiful and abundant throughout the universe's early fraction of a second.

I see, so we develop models that we think describe what happened, and then we can go test those models by creating similar situations in the laboratory.

I see, so we develop models that we think describe what happened, and then we can go test those models by creating similar situations in the laboratory.

Yeah, that's exactly right. So if we don't know what the laws of physics were under these conditions, how the universe works under these really really high temperatures or energies, we can't really put forth a educated guess about how the early universe might have played out. If we can study those laws of physics in these particle accelerators, we can at least intelligently speculate about what the first say, trillionth of a second after the Big Bang was likely.

Yeah, that's exactly right. So if we don't know what the laws of physics were under these conditions, how the universe works under these really really high temperatures or energies, we can't really put forth a educated guess about how the early universe might have played out. If we can study those laws of physics in these particle accelerators, we can at least intelligently speculate about what the first say, trillionth of a second after the Big Bang was likely.

Like, right, so lets us test our models, so lets us understand whether what we think happened might have actually happened. But again, it's not as direct as we'd like. It's another piece of the evidence that constrains what could have happened. But of course, as humans, we like visual proof, we like very direct evidence. Sometimes I think about solving science questions as the way a detective might be sold having a murder mystery. In the end, you'd love to have the body and a lot of physical evidence, but sometimes all you have is indirect constraints. You know when the person was by video somewhere else, and you have an alibi here, an aliby there, you can sort of piece the story together without the direct evidence of the body or the smoking gun. You're never one hundred percent sure, but you can do your best with what you have.

Like, right, so lets us test our models, so lets us understand whether what we think happened might have actually happened. But again, it's not as direct as we'd like. It's another piece of the evidence that constrains what could have happened. But of course, as humans, we like visual proof, we like very direct evidence. Sometimes I think about solving science questions as the way a detective might be sold having a murder mystery. In the end, you'd love to have the body and a lot of physical evidence, but sometimes all you have is indirect constraints. You know when the person was by video somewhere else, and you have an alibi here, an aliby there, you can sort of piece the story together without the direct evidence of the body or the smoking gun. You're never one hundred percent sure, but you can do your best with what you have.

Sure. I of course agree, but I think it's important to not say that just because your evidence is indirect, that it's necessarily weak. There are a lot of things that science has done by accumulating indirect evidence that has led to really strong conclusions, conclusions we have enormous confidence in. Sometimes the right array of indirect evidence can lead you very confident you understand the problem you're looking at.

Sure. I of course agree, but I think it's important to not say that just because your evidence is indirect, that it's necessarily weak. There are a lot of things that science has done by accumulating indirect evidence that has led to really strong conclusions, conclusions we have enormous confidence in. Sometimes the right array of indirect evidence can lead you very confident you understand the problem you're looking at.

No, I'm very sensitive to that as well, because everything we discover in particle colliders we have seen indirectly. We never observe these particles in our hands or can play with them or touch them where he was looking at their indirect decays and then the observations in the detectors.

No, I'm very sensitive to that as well, because everything we discover in particle colliders we have seen indirectly. We never observe these particles in our hands or can play with them or touch them where he was looking at their indirect decays and then the observations in the detectors.

That's right, But just because we haven't ever seen a Higgs boson doesn't mean we're in any way not confident that it exists. We've measured it in numerous number of indirect ways. We measured all these things about it, and as a consequence, we're really sure that the Higgs boson is a real thing that we're observing and at the Large Hattern colidber.

That's right, But just because we haven't ever seen a Higgs boson doesn't mean we're in any way not confident that it exists. We've measured it in numerous number of indirect ways. We measured all these things about it, and as a consequence, we're really sure that the Higgs boson is a real thing that we're observing and at the Large Hattern colidber.

All right, And so our knowledge of physics, let's just extrapo laid back, and we can check our understanding of how that works. Using particle colliders to create really hot, dense, energy rich environments. How far back does that take us? How far back do we think we might understand the universe?

All right, And so our knowledge of physics, let's just extrapo laid back, and we can check our understanding of how that works. Using particle colliders to create really hot, dense, energy rich environments. How far back does that take us? How far back do we think we might understand the universe?

Well? The protons that we're colliding together at the Large Hattern Collider, they're colliding with the kinds of energies that the particles had about a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. So by studying these collisions at the Large Hattern Collider, we get a pretty good picture for what the early universe was very likely to have been like about a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. Before that, we don't really have a clue as to what the laws of physics were or how the sequence of events might have played out.

Well? The protons that we're colliding together at the Large Hattern Collider, they're colliding with the kinds of energies that the particles had about a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. So by studying these collisions at the Large Hattern Collider, we get a pretty good picture for what the early universe was very likely to have been like about a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. Before that, we don't really have a clue as to what the laws of physics were or how the sequence of events might have played out.

And is that because we don't have accelerators that are big enough, Like we built an accelerator the size of the Solar System that could collide particles that even higher energy. Would that let us see further back in time?

And is that because we don't have accelerators that are big enough, Like we built an accelerator the size of the Solar System that could collide particles that even higher energy. Would that let us see further back in time?

Yeah, that's right. If we had a particle accelerator that accelerated particles to even higher speeds and collide them with more energy than a large pattern collider does, we could push back even farther and closer to the Big Bang. We'd understand the laws of physics at earlier times and be able to reasonably construct that early history of our universe.

Yeah, that's right. If we had a particle accelerator that accelerated particles to even higher speeds and collide them with more energy than a large pattern collider does, we could push back even farther and closer to the Big Bang. We'd understand the laws of physics at earlier times and be able to reasonably construct that early history of our universe.

So what do we imagine? What do we think might have happened before a trillionth of a second.

So what do we imagine? What do we think might have happened before a trillionth of a second.

Well, we don't know for sure, but we have at least some good reasons to think that at some early point in our universe's history, spacedon just expand and steadily, but in kind of a giant burst. This is what we call cosmic inflation. So when we look at, for example, the uniformity of our universe, it's basically got the same amount of stuff everywhere. Or when we look at the geometrical flatness of the universe, by which I mean that space on large scales doesn't seem to be curved or warped, but is you know, follows the source of laws of geometry that you learned.

Well, we don't know for sure, but we have at least some good reasons to think that at some early point in our universe's history, spacedon just expand and steadily, but in kind of a giant burst. This is what we call cosmic inflation. So when we look at, for example, the uniformity of our universe, it's basically got the same amount of stuff everywhere. Or when we look at the geometrical flatness of the universe, by which I mean that space on large scales doesn't seem to be curved or warped, but is you know, follows the source of laws of geometry that you learned.

In high school.

In high school.

These things lead us to think that the universe probably underwent this burst of inflationary growth at a very early time. That being said, we can't really be sure that happened. We have some, you know, provisional evidence that it probably did, but we don't know much about this period or why or how it took place.

These things lead us to think that the universe probably underwent this burst of inflationary growth at a very early time. That being said, we can't really be sure that happened. We have some, you know, provisional evidence that it probably did, but we don't know much about this period or why or how it took place.

All right, And here is a perfect opportunity to ask you a question from Twitter. Here's a question from Twitter user myself Broth, who says, how does physics actually test or prove inflation theory? What kind of test would you propose to verify whether inflation was reality or just a model we use that explains the data we have.

All right, And here is a perfect opportunity to ask you a question from Twitter. Here's a question from Twitter user myself Broth, who says, how does physics actually test or prove inflation theory? What kind of test would you propose to verify whether inflation was reality or just a model we use that explains the data we have.

That's a great question. So let me start, though by going back a little bit, so in the nineteen seventies, when the Big Bang theory was kind of becoming the established consensus view of our universe's history at that point in time, there were a couple of problems that emerged. One is that the universe really seems to be quite uniform, and it's very hard to understand why some piece of the universe way over there and some other piece of universe and some opposite direction, billions and billions and billions of light years away. Why they would be so much alike. It really seemed like these parts of the universe had had a chance to synchronize with each other, and we didn't have any way of explaining that. Also, we didn't have any way of understanding why the universe was so flat. And I mentioned this before, but what I really mean by that is if I take three points in space and I draw trying between them, this is a huge triangle billions of light years across. If I add up the angles of that triangle, I always get about one hundred and eighty degrees. In other words, like the Euclidean geometry you learned about in ninth or tenth grade that seems to apply to our universe in a largest scales, and that doesn't have to be the case. Einstein showed us that space can be curved positively or negatively, and we should have kind of expected our universe to have been curved, or at least people argued that. So to solve these puzzles, people around nineteen eighty, Alan Gooth and others proposed that the early universe may have had this inflationary phase where it grew really fast. When it grows, it flattens out space. That's kind of a natural dynamical consequence of inflation. And also it gives all of the points that we see in space a chance to synchronize early on, explaining why there's so much alike. Now, Okay, So if that were the end of the story, I think it would be unclear whether inflation would be a popular theory. It would have been really hard to say that we're really convinced that happened. It would would just not be enough evidence. But inflation back in the eighties was shown to make a couple of predictions. For one thing, it said that when you get around one day to measuring the details of the temperature patterns and the cosmic microwave background, you're going to find that those temperature patterns are what we call nearly scale invariant and adiabatic. Now those are some complicated sounding words, but they predicted fairly specific kinds of patterns in this light. And when we got around to measuring that in the nineties, two thousands, and as recently as the last few years or the Plank satellite, it turns out that those predictions panned out the way that these temperature patterns actually appear in the universe are consistent with what inflationary theory predicted, and as a result, most cosmologists today think it's probably pretty likely that inflation or something like it took place. We're not sure, but we think it's pretty likely for the most part.