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The history of the universe after inflation but before a time of about 1 second is largely unknown. [26] However, the universe is known to have been dominated by ultrarelativistic Standard Model particles, conventionally called radiation, by the time of neutrino decoupling at about 1 second. [27]
Timeline of the expansion of the universe, where space, including hypothetical non-observable portions of the universe, is represented at each time by the circular sections. On the left, the dramatic expansion occurs in the inflationary epoch ; and at the center, the expansion accelerates (artist's concept; neither time nor size are to scale).
The accelerated expansion of the universe is thought to have begun since the universe entered its dark-energy-dominated era roughly 5 billion years ago. [ 8 ] [ notes 1 ] Within the framework of general relativity , an accelerated expansion can be accounted for by a positive value of the cosmological constant Λ , equivalent to the presence of ...
In using Hubble's law to determine distances, only the velocity due to the expansion of the universe can be used. Since gravitationally interacting galaxies move relative to each other independent of the expansion of the universe, [43] these relative velocities, called peculiar velocities, need to be accounted for in the application of Hubble's ...
Before 1998, it was expected that the expansion rate would be decreasing as time went on due to the influence of gravitational interactions in the universe; and thus there is an additional observable quantity in the universe called the deceleration parameter, which most cosmologists expected to be positive and related to the matter density of ...
The thinning of matter over time reduces the ability of gravity to decelerate the expansion of the universe; in contrast, dark energy (believed to be a constant scalar field throughout the visible universe) is a constant factor tending to accelerate the expansion of the universe. The universe's expansion passed an inflection point about five or ...
As we continue the search for evidence of dark energy, one scientist proposes a radical new idea about what's going on in the cosmos.
The theory explains that the universe will expand until all matter decays and ultimately turns to light. Since nothing in the universe would have any time or distance scale associated with it, the universe becomes identical with the Big Bang, resulting in a type of Big Crunch that becomes the next Big Bang, thus perpetuating the next cycle. [21]