HISTORY EVENTS IN AN INFLATIONARY BIG BANG COSMOLOGY

Niel Brandt, niel@cast0.ast.cam.ac.uk

HTML version by Peter Lamb, prl@csis.dit.csiro.au



Time (s)       T  (Kelvin) Reference  Event
                CBR

THE QUANTUM GRAVITY ERA

1x10^-43       1x10^32     KT 72      Quantum limit of classical general
                                      relativity

THE INFLATION AND SYMMETRY BREAKING ERA


1x10^-38       1x10^29     KT 72      Limit of perturbative interaction
                                      thermalization of universe
1x10^-35       1x10^28     KT 72      Grand unification spontaneous
                                      symmetry breaking
1x10^-34       1x10^27     KT 274     Approximate start of inflation
1x10^-32       1x10^27     KT 274     Approximate start of reheating and
                                      end of inflation
1x10^-11       3x10^15     KT 72      Electroweak unification spontaneous
                                      symmetry breaking

THE QUARK-LEPTON ERA


2x10^-7        2x10^13    HA 353      Tauon anti-tauon annihilation
1x10^-5        2x10^12    KT 72       Formation of hadrons from quarks
7x10^-5        1x10^12    HA 353      Muon anti-muon annihilation
5x10^-4        4x10^11    KT 159, 281 By this time the universe has a
                                      baryon-antibaryon asymmetry
                                      which results from post-inflationary
                                      B,C,CP violating processes
1x10^-1        3x10^10    BS          Neutral current weak interactions
                                      become too slow and neutrinos
                                      decouple
1x10^0         1x10^10    BS          Charged current weak interactions
                                      become too slow and neutron to
                                      proton ratio freezes out
1x10^1         5x10^9     BS          Electron positron annihilation

THE RADIATION ERA


1x10^2         1x10^9     BS          Typical photon energies drop below
                                      the deuteron binding energy and
                                      nucleosynthesis begins
1x10^3         4x10^8     BS          Particle energies drop below coulomb
                                      barrier energies and nucleosynthesis
                                      ends
4x10^10        6x10^4     KT 77       Matter density becomes equal to
                                      radiation density

THE MATTER ERA


4x10^12        3.5x10^3   KT 78       Electrons and protons recombine into
                                      hydrogen atoms
6x10^12        3.0x10^3   KT 80       Photon decoupling
2x10^16        20         HA 349      Formation of galaxies
(X-1.4x10^17)  ---        KT 12       Formation of the solar system
(X-9.9x10^16)  ---        HA 390      Emergence of life on Earth
X ~ 4.7x10^17  2.726      KT 12       Today

These values are rough estimates only. I have taken Omega_0=1, Lambda_0=0, and h=1.

BS
Annual Reviews of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 23, 322 by Boesgaard and Steigman
HA
Cosmology: The Science of the Universe by Harrison
KT
The Early Universe by Kolb and Turner