Dialectics of the Universe
By Michio Kaku, from his book, Hyperspace, Oxford University Press,
1994, page 213
Instead of heating an ice cube, we now cool the superhot matter in the universe through different stages. Beginning with the instant of Creation, we have the following stages in the evolution of our universe.
10-43 seconds The ten dimensional universe
breaks down to a four and six-dimensional universe. The six-dimensional
universe collapses down to 10-32 centimeter in size. The four-
dimensional universe inflates rapidly. The temperature is 1032
degrees K.
10-35 seconds The GUT [Grand Unified Theory]
force breaks; the strong force is no longer united with the electroweak
interactions. SU(3) breaks off from the GUT symmetry. A small speck in the
larger universe becomes inflated by a factor of 1050, eventually
becoming our visible universe.
10-9 seconds The temperature is now 1015 degrees K, and the electroweak symmetry breaks into SU(2) and U(1).
10-3 seconds Quarks begin to condense into neutrons
and protons. The temperature is roughly 1014 degrees K.
3 minutes The protons and neutrons are now condensing
into stable nuclei. The energy of random collisions is no longer powerful
enough to break up the nucleus of the emerging nuclei. Space is still
opaque to light because ions do not transmit light well.
300,000 years Electrons begin to condense around nuclei.
Atoms begin to form. Because light is no longer scattered or absorbed as much,
the universe becomes transparent to light. Outer space becomes black.
3 billion years The first quasars appear.
5 billion years The first galaxies appear.
10 - 15 billion years The solar system is born.
To bring this list of key turning points up to the present, please click
on The Top Ten Stories of All Time
an updated version of Kaku's turning points.
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