Creation of matter

Undesired Walrus · 27th March 2009, 03:19 AM

Is there any reason whatsover to suppose that the Big Bang 13.7 Billion years ago was when matter was created?

Or is the most we can say about the BB is that it was simply an event when all our present day matter when condensed into a single point?

shadron · 27th March 2009, 03:41 AM

The latter, I'd think - as long as you allow "matter" to mean the total sum of matter and energy, 'cause there will be a whole lot of swapping of states as time goes b.

sol invictus · 27th March 2009, 04:00 AM

Originally Posted by Undesired Walrus

Is there any reason whatsover to suppose that the Big Bang 13.7 Billion years ago was when matter was created?

Or is the most we can say about the BB is that it was simply an event when all our present day matter when condensed into a single point?

Depends on what you mean by "matter".

If you mean most elements, those were produced by stars long after the big bang. The very light elements (up to lithium and beryllium) were produced during a period about ten minutes after the big bang. Earlier than that nearly all the energy was in radiation, but there was still "matter" in the form of quarks, electrons, muons, etc. Even earlier there was evidently some process (called baryogenesis) that is responsible for the preponderance of matter (meaning quarks) over antimatter (anti-quarks), but it's poorly understood.

27th March 2009, 03:19 AM	#1
Undesired Walrus Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: London Posts: 10,894	Creation of matter Is there any reason whatsover to suppose that the Big Bang 13.7 Billion years ago was when matter was created? Or is the most we can say about the BB is that it was simply an event when all our present day matter when condensed into a single point?
	__________________ Man's material discoveries have outpaced his moral progress. - Clement Attlee, 1945

27th March 2009, 03:41 AM	#2
shadron Philosopher Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 5,719	The latter, I'd think - as long as you allow "matter" to mean the total sum of matter and energy, 'cause there will be a whole lot of swapping of states as time goes b.

27th March 2009, 04:00 AM	#3
sol invictus Philosopher Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Nova Roma Posts: 8,419	Originally Posted by Undesired Walrus Is there any reason whatsover to suppose that the Big Bang 13.7 Billion years ago was when matter was created? Or is the most we can say about the BB is that it was simply an event when all our present day matter when condensed into a single point? Depends on what you mean by "matter". If you mean most elements, those were produced by stars long after the big bang. The very light elements (up to lithium and beryllium) were produced during a period about ten minutes after the big bang. Earlier than that nearly all the energy was in radiation, but there was still "matter" in the form of quarks, electrons, muons, etc. Even earlier there was evidently some process (called baryogenesis) that is responsible for the preponderance of matter (meaning quarks) over antimatter (anti-quarks), but it's poorly understood.