Gravity May Have Saved the Early Universe After the Big Bang

First Posted: Nov 18, 2014 12:05 PM EST
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Why didn't the universe collapse immediately after the Big Bang? That's a question that physicists have been struggling with for years. Now, they may just have their answer.

Studies of the Higgs particle have suggested that the production of these particles during the accelerating expansion of the early universe should have led to instability and collapse. Yet obviously this didn't occur, which is why scientists have taken a closer look as to why this is.

In this case, the researchers believe that the spacetime curvature-essentially, gravity-provided the stability needed for the universe to survive expansion during the early period of its formation. The scientists examined the interaction between the Higgs particles and gravity, taking into account how it would vary with energy. In the end, they found that even a small interaction would have been enough to stabilize the universe against decay.

"The Standard Model of particle physics, which scientists use to explain elementary particles and their interactions, has so far not provided an answer to why the universe did not collapse following the Big Bang," said Arttu Rajantie, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Our research investigates the last unknown parameter in the Standard Model-the interaction between the Higgs particle and gravity. This parameter cannot be measured in particle accelerator experiments, but it has a big effect on the Higgs instability during inflation. Even a relatively small value is enough to explain the survival of the universe without any new physics!"

Currently, the scientists plan to continue their research to look at the interaction between gravity and the particle in more detail. They hope to find out exactly what effect it would have had on the development of the early universe.

"Our aim is to measure the interaction between gravity and the Higgs field using cosmological data," said Rajantie. "If we are able to do that, we will have supplied the last unknown number in the Standard Model of particles physics and be closer to answering fundamental questions about how we are all here."

The findings are published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

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