Lesson 1: In The Beginning (Big Bang Theory and Formation of the Light Elements)

Terms

Cosmology

Big Bang theory/Big Bang model

Singularity

Inflation

Annihilation

Recombination

Redshift

Relative abundance

Cosmic microwave background

Key points, Illustration of expansion, Nucleosynthesis reactions, and Proofs of the Big Bang Model

a. The universe may have begun as an infinitely hot and dense initial singularity, a point with all of space,
time, matter and energy. This means that there was no where, when or what. There is no space around
the singularity – just nothingness.

b. All of it then began to rapidly expand in a process known as inflation. Space itself expanded faster
than the speed of light. In this still hot and dense mass of the universe, pairs of matter and antimatter
(quarks and antiquarks) were formed from energy, but these pairs cancelled each other back into energy
(annihilation).

c. The universe cooled down as it expanded. An excess of matter (electrons, protons, neutrons and other
particles) somehow came to be in a highly energetic “plasma soup.” Photons (light particles) were being
scattered everywhere in this “soup”. Protons and neutrons came together to form different types of
nuclei by nucleosynthesis or nuclear fusion.

d. Much later on, electrons started to bind to ionized protons and nuclei forming neutral atoms in a
process called recombination. The bound particles no longer scattered photons so light and energy
moved freely across space. The period was hence known as the “dark ages”.

e. Gravity caused these atoms to collapse onto one another to form stars and galaxies and eventually,
other matter. This still happens until today. Space also continues to expand at an accelerating rate, thus
increasing the distance between the matters inside it.

There are several limitations and misconceptions associated with discussing the Big Bang Theory. Keep
in mind the following:

The Big Bang refers to the very start of the whole process called the Big Bang model.
The Big Bang was NOT an explosion that carried matter outward from a point. It refers to the rapid
inflation of space itself.

The theory does not explain what caused it or where the singularity came from, BUT the Big Bang model
does not need a cause to be a valid theory. It simply needs to show that observations and evidence
validate its assumptions. The model is a work in progress that we are still finding evidence for until now.

Note:

Similar to the Big Bang, a balloon expands very rapidly at the start, then more slowly when it has
already inflated. But some evidence shows that the expansion is now accelerating again.

The balloon is the universe and space itself. There is no classroom for it to expand into. You may have
them conduct this activity outside of class to save time.

Using different instruments can enable us to detect the light of other galaxies. This light is found to be
redshifted (the light looks “stretched”). This suggests that other galaxies are moving farther away from
ours. It was later determined that they are not moving away. Instead, space itself is expanding in all
directions causing all the galaxies to be relatively farther apart. From this “redshift” we learn how fast
the universe is expanding.

Redshift is the first piece of evidence for the Big Bang model.

Focus on nucleosynthesis and how free protons and neutrons would routinely combine and separate
from each other due to the high energies at the time. Present the diagram that shows the most
significant reactions that occurred. By balancing proton and neutron count, given the compositions of
the nuclei:

Due to the rapid cooling due to expansion, nucleosynthesis ground to a halt about three minutes after
the Big Bang occurred. This left us with mostly H isotopes (p, D and T), He isotopes and a very tiny bit of
other elements like Li. The relative abundance of He and H did not change much until today.
Significant nuclear reactions during Big Bang nucleosynthesis.

Clarify the diagram:

These are not the only reactions that occurred but these were the most significant.

Given the (a, b) format in the diagram, it is a that reacts with the particle while it is b that is produced or
removed. γ is the symbol for gamma radiation.

You may use an accounting approach to count. Place the number of each particle on each side and
balance like a money sheet:
D and T are isotopes of hydrogen namely deuterium and tritium, respectively.

How the relative abundance of light elements in the universe is the second piece of evidence to prove
that the Big Bang occurred?

Through measurements, we find that around 24% of the universe’s ordinary matter is currently
comprised of helium, about 74% hydrogen, and 2% of other elements. These figures only make sense if
nucleosynthesis in the Big Bang model actually occurred since no chemical process significantly changes
these percentages.

A third part of evidence for the Big Bang model: cosmic microwave background, or the energy (thermal
radiation) that was left as a result of recombination. Atoms became neutral due to the binding of nuclei
and electrons. The remaining radiation then began to scatter. This is seen by scientists as a faint
microwave glow not emitted by any object in space.