Science - The Early Universe

(or "What Banged in the Big Bang?")

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5.4x10 ^-44 to 10 ^-36  seconds - Grand Unification

Gravity having gone its separate way, the Strong Nuclear Force, The Weak Nuclear Force, and Electromagnetism, remain unified into a single electronuclear force.  The temperature is falling from its value of around 10³²ºK at the start of this period. 

Assuming the process of grand unification is correct, at the end of this period the strong nuclear force separates from the other forces. The temperature falls below 10²⁷ºK, the Grand Unification temperature, so no more of the hypothetical X and Y bosons are created.  If the theory is correct, the X and Y bosons couple quarks to leptons.  The problem is that this would permit violation of the conservation of baryon number implying that protons would be unstable and would decay over a long enough period.  Despite numerous experiments, no evidence of proton decay has been found.  If correct, then the X and Y bosons decay into various combinations of up/down quarks/anti-quarks, electrons, electron antineutrinos and positrons.  The violation of the conservation of baryon number may result in a small excess of matter over antimatter, providing one possible explanation for Baryogenisis (see section A Particle Soup).

Once all this is over, it signals the start of the Electroweak epoch where the weak nuclear force and electromagnetism remain joined as the electroweak force.