{"id":3554,"date":"2023-02-19T06:24:34","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T11:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/?page_id=3554"},"modified":"2026-03-02T07:11:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T12:11:47","slug":"prelude","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.tubridy.net\/newblog\/prelude\/","title":{"rendered":"Life, The Universe and Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cosmic Microwave Background<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discovery of the cosmic microwave background in 1965 changed the way the universe was viewed. Originally thought to be caused by proximity to New York City, it representes the remnants of the big bang. A small portion of the static or “snow” seen on an untuned analog television screen is a visual pattern of the radiation. This radiation is the leftover glow from the Big Bang, a faint echo that permeates the entire universe.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The best explanation I could find for the Big Bang<\/strong> is that there was nothing, and then, in the next moment, space came into existence. Simultaneously, every point in space began moving away from every other point in space. Go figure!<\/p>\n\n\n

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The expanding balloon analogy for cosmological models is shown below at two different times. A common misconception is that the balloon is expanding into empty space that is “beyond the Universe” and that it is expanding from a single point in the center of the balloon. However, this simple idea represented in two dimensions fails to explain how it would work in three dimensions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

One thing is clear: We live in a universe of energy<\/em>. The higher the energy level for a closed system, the hotter it gets. The ‘temperature<\/a>‘ of the Big Bang<\/em><\/strong> is thought to be around 1032<\/sup> \u00b0K. That is a ten with 32 zeros after it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 \u00b0K<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

… for the briefest of an instant, it is thought that things cooled down quickly, and space expanded liked the balloon analogy (above).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Inflation\u2014analogous to balloon inflation\u2014happens in the first 10-32<\/sup> seconds. The temperature dropped by 100,000 degrees Kelvin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Planck density is an upper limit unit of density of the universe when the clock starting ticking. It is roughly\u00a05.155<\/mn>\u00d7<\/mo>10<\/mn>96<\/mn><\/msup>kg\/m<\/mtext>3<\/mn><\/msup><\/mrow><\/semantics><\/math>representing the extreme density thought to exist at the very beginning of the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May the Force be with Us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Energy coalesced into the first proto-matter, comprising strange wavicles (aka particles) called quarks, gluons, and leptons. These particles were influenced by powerful forces operating at infinitesimal distances. Quarks and anti-quarks of different types, together with an ever-changing number of gluons (the massless force carrier of the strong force), combine to form nucleons, which are known as protons and neutrons, by colliding at or near the cosmic speed limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know know that quarks get their intrinsic mass from interaction with the Higgs field. This was confirmed only recently by experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. However, this mass only accounts for a small percentage of the mass in the universe.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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An illustration of the incredibly complex and ever-changing interior of a proton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Because quarks are confined to a tiny volume (the radius of a proton) by the strong force, Heisenberg\u2019s Uncertainty Principle dictates they must move at incredibly high speeds\u2014nearly<\/em> the speed of light. This massive kinetic energy manifests as mass.<\/strong> This makes up over 99% of the total mass of the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the universe expanded and cooled, these particles interacted with each other and other particles like electrons and photons\u2014 these being the constituent components of the electromagnetic force. Things started to clear up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The photon, the ‘wavicle’ that carries the electromagnetic force (its quanta), emerged shortly after the Big Bang. The electromagnetic force, which governs all our experiences except gravity, is one of the four fundamental forces in the universe. Notably, the photon one of two elementary wavicles with zero rest mass (the other being gluons), necessitating its constant motion at the speed of light.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Approximately 300,000 years after the Big Bang, the universe cooled down enough for electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, to fill it. The Cosmic Microwave Background (as shown at top) represents the farthest we can look back in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Age of Matter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The stage was set. Everything that comes afterwards, including amazingly complex self-organizing stuff that forms the basis for living organisms, is based on the result of this cosmic inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E equals f h,
And E equals m c squared;
From these seeds, the world
<\/p>Matt Strassler – Waves in a Impossible Sea<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the hadrons interacted with other particles like electrons, they formed an equivalent number of hydrogen atoms, plus a few helium and lithium atoms. The amounts were small compared to the ever-expanding volume of the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The hydrogen atom. The two equations above are the basis for the formation, and more importantly, stability, of all matter. Essentially resonant waves of energy in a mysterious medium of nothing called a vacuum..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There were so many of these hydrogen atoms that their mass affected spacetime<\/a> by bending it. We call this force gravity.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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Gravity is described by the general theory of relativity<\/a>, proposed by Albert Einstein<\/a> in 1915, which describes gravity in terms of the curvature<\/a> of spacetime<\/a>, caused by the uneven distribution of mass. Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

These atoms started to clump together and became so big and hot that they ignited in nuclear fusion. A star was born, so they say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stars are fascinating. They are born in dense clouds of gas and come in all sizes; depending on their size, what happens when they run out of hydrogen differs.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Supernovae are a significant source of elements in the interstellar medium, from oxygen to rubidium. The expanding shock waves of supernovae can trigger the formation of new stars. Supernovae are a major source of cosmic rays. They might also produce gravitational waves, though thus far, they have been detected only from the mergers of black holes and neutron stars. Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As these early stars reached the end of their lifetime, they died in different ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Where everything comes from – the fascinating evolution from a huge ball of mostly hydrogen to the superbly complex world that surrounds us. Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smaller stars like our Sun create oxygen and other ‘metals’ like carbon and silicon\u2014everything up to iron, the most stable element, as they age. More giant stars explode in what’s called a supernova. In the explosive death throes of these stars, heavier, exotic elements like Uranium are formed. As a star dies, it sheds these elements to become part of the dust and gas clouds that birth new stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As a smaller star like our own uses up its hydrogen fuel, gravitational forces cause the star to begin other fusion processes that result in the more common ‘metals.’ When the star finally dies, these elements are added to the cosmic soup from the original hydrogen, helium, and lithium created during the initial moments of the Big Bang. These then go on to form newer stars, and the process continues.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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There are 4 \u00d7 1027<\/sup> hydrogen atoms in the human body, well over half the total number of atoms. There are also about 2 x 1027<\/sup> oxygen atoms in the human body. Every one of the oxygen atoms was made in the death of a star sometime, somewhere, a long, long time ago. We all know that two hydrogen atoms combine with one oxygen atom to make water. So roughly 2 x 1027 <\/sup>of the molecules in our body are water. The next most common element is carbon, with about 8 x 1026<\/sup> atoms. So we are, in fact, mostly bags of water. Thank you, Mother Ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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