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Vacuum state is a configuration of quantum fields representing a local minimum (but not necessarily a global minimum) of energy. Inflationary models propose that at approximately 10 −36 seconds after the Big Bang, vacuum state of the Universe was different from the one seen at the present time: the inflationary vacuum had a much higher energy density.
When inflation ends, the temperature returns to the pre-inflationary temperature; this is called reheating or thermalization because the large potential energy of the inflaton field decays into particles and fills the Universe with Standard Model particles, including electromagnetic radiation, starting the radiation dominated phase of the Universe.
The inflaton field is a hypothetical scalar field which is conjectured to have driven cosmic inflation in the very early universe. [1] [2] [3] The field, originally postulated by Alan Guth, [1] provides a mechanism by which a period of rapid expansion from 10 −35 to 10 −34 seconds after the initial expansion can be generated, forming a universe not inconsistent with observed spatial ...
The history of the universe after inflation but before a time of about 1 second is largely unknown. [22] 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. [ 23 ]
The chronology of the universe describes the history and future of the universe according to Big Bang cosmology.. Research published in 2015 estimates the earliest stages of the universe's existence as taking place 13.8 billion years ago, with an uncertainty of around 21 million years at the 68% confidence level.
In physical cosmology, the electroweak epoch was the period in the evolution of the early universe when the temperature of the universe had fallen enough that the strong force separated from the electronuclear interaction, but was still high enough for electromagnetism and the weak interaction to remain merged into a single electroweak interaction above the critical temperature for electroweak ...
The dark-energy-dominated era began after the matter-dominated era, i.e. when the Universe was about 9.8 billion years old. [13] In the era of cosmic inflation, the Hubble parameter is also thought to be constant, so the expansion law of the dark-energy-dominated era also holds for the inflationary prequel of the big bang.
The Inflationary Universe is a popular physics book by theoretical physicist Alan H. Guth, first published in 1997.The book explores the historical and theoretical development and expansion of the theory of inflation, which was first presented by the author in 1979 as the culmination of his research on the implications of theory of the Big Bang.