Brian Cox: Something Terrifying Existed Before The Big Bang

essentially what happened before the Big Bang right you have to be careful with the language so if you define the Big Bang really carefully as the time when the universe was very hot and very dense and as I said you you can't argue with that because we can see it as we can look out into the sky our best theory of how the universe got into that state is that there was a time before that and it's called inflation what existed before the big bang this question has always been a challenge for scientists but now

it seems they found the answer to it but it has left scientist shocked as Brian Cox revealed that something terrifying existed before the Big Bang so the idea is the universe was it was there in a sense cold and empty and expanded extremely fast and that expansion slowed down and stopped and the the energy that was driving that expansion got dumped into space heated it up made all the particles out of which we're made that's what we call the big bang so what existed before the Big Bang why has it left scientists terrified let's find

out and that theory has a kind of an extension called Eternal inflation which is that the inflation essentially goes on forever and it just stops in little patches so you imagine this this Str the fabric of the universe space Ty stretch stret stretch stretch and then it slows down and stops and little patches and each one of those patches is basically a big bang and a universe of which ours is one so you end up with this sort of picture of a an infinite fractal Universe of of basically an infinite number of big bangs and

that's called the inflationary Multiverse in the vast Cosmos the idea of absolute nothingness seems theoretical rather than real even if all energy were removed from the universe it wouldn't be truly empty currently the universe is full of matter radiation antimatter neutros dark matter and dark energy even without energy the universe still creates new forms of energy this phenomenon confuses us it seems the universe doesn't understand our concept of complete emptiness if we removed all energy leaving a void one might expect the universe to reach absolute zero with no particles yes that's not the case even

in an empty Universe its expansion would still produce radiation this extends far into the future or even back to the time before the hot big bang the universe it appears never truly becomes void given all of this is it plausible that the Universe originated from nothing we can be certain that something always persists even if particles antiparticles photons and Quant are removed empty space remains if we move away from any mass or energy sources clear the space of external Electric magnetic and gravitational fields and prevent photons or gravitational waves from entering a kind of physical

emptiness still exists in this space Quantum Fields endure and the fundamental constants and laws of physics endure there is an inherent finite positive and nonzero value of 0 point energy in that space this represents the closest approximation to nothing within our universe while you might Envision an even more nothing like state it lacks physical reality no experiment can replicate such a condition by adhering to Scientific principles we acknowledge that something always exists because true nothingness cannot coexist in our universe yet the question of why remains unanswered by science presently our universe appears far from it's

teeming with stars gas dust galaxies quazars cosmic rays and radiation from both Starlight and the remnants of the big bang with improved observational tools we could potentially detect additional signals that we anticipate a present this encompasses gravitational waves generated by any Mass moving through a changing gravitational field the mysterious signals from the constituents of dark matter and a broader perspective on black holes but both active and dormant aside from those emitting the most radiation everything we observe occurs in a universe that isn't static but is continuously changing from a physical standpoint it's intriguing to comprehend

the evolution of our universe on a grand scale the fabric of our universe known as SpaceTime is expanding this implies that if you position two points far apart in your SpaceTime the proper distance between those two points the time it takes for light to Traverse between them and the wavelength of the light traveling from one point to the other all increase over time the universe isn't just getting bigger it's also getting colder as it expands as light stretches to longer wavelengths it moves towards lower energies and cooler temperatures the universe was hotter in the past

and will become even colder in the future during this process objects with mass or energy in the universe attract each other forming clusters and creating a vast Cosmic network if you were to somehow remove everything or matter or radiation every bit of energy what would remain essentially you'd have empty space itself still expanding still governed by the laws of physics and still influenced by Quantum fields that fill the universe this is the closest physical approximation to True nothingness yet it still aders to specific physical principes to a physicist in this reality removing anything else would

create an unrealistic state that no longer reflects the cosmos we inhabit this suggests that dark energy as we currently understand it would still be present in this hypothetical Universe devoid of matter in essence if every Quantum field in the universe was set to its lowest energy State we would arrive at the Zero Point Energy of space where no additional energy could be extracted for mechanical work in a universe containing Dark Energy a cosmological constant or the Zero Point Energy of quantum Fields it's plausible that the Zero Point Energy wouldn't be truly zero as the universe

continues to expand and cool there will come a time in the distant future when radiation becomes the dominant component surpassing other forms of matter and radiation leaving dark energy as the primary influence however there's also a period in the universe history not in the future but in the distant past when something else besides matter and radiation held dominance during Cosmic inflation prior to the hot big bang our universe underwent extremely rapid and constant expansion instead of being dominated by matter and radiation the cosmos was controlled by the field energy of inflation akin to today's Dark

Energy but much more potent and expanding at a significantly faster pace Cas if Eternal inflation is accurate but time remains finite where might the universe have originated there must have been a beginning correct to address this question thoroughly let's unravel three commonly conflated Concepts and discuss each individually the hot big bang in relation to our universe the theory of cosmic or cosmological inflation and its role in proceeding and preparing for the Big Bang and the issue of an ultimate beginning or origin for our universe and why both inflation and the original concept of the Big

Bang might not offer a satisfactory solution to this question in the early 20th century a significant synthesis took place when four key pieces of information came together a breakthrough by Alexander fredman in Einstein's general relativity showing that a universe filled uniformly with any form of matter and energy cannot remain static but must either expand or contract the rate of this expansion or contraction depends on the overall energy density of space Henrietta leit observational work established a connection between the period of brightness and dimness of variable stars and their inherent brightness known as the period Luminosity

relation observations by vesto slier measuring the shift in light either red shifted or blue shifted from our solar systems perspective in spiral and elliptical nebuli which were later identified as galaxies indicated that these galaxies were moving away from us at incredibly high speeds Edwin Hubble alongside Milton humson identified similar types of variable stars to those identified by Henrietta leovit in spiral and elliptical nebuli this enabled them to gauge the distances to these galaxies and confirmed they were beyond our own these findings combined with other data LED to the concept of the universe expanding if the

universe expands it suggests that over time space itself stretches causing the matter within it to become less dense as space expands radiation like light waves not only becomes less concentrated but also stretches leading to the universe cooling if we rewind the clock the opposite would occur to matter and radiation in the universe in earlier times when the universe was younger it was denser and hotter if we rewind further all matter and radiation would have been squeezed into a smaller space increasing the density of the universe the light which stretched due to Cosmic expansion when we

reverse time would have had a shorter wavelength resulting in hotter temperatures if you envision going back as far as physics permits you'd reach a singular state where all matter and radiation existed within a single point of infinite density and temperature the initial idea of The Big Bang Theory resulted in the formation of five key expectations regarding the early universe's hot and dense conditions these forecasts became the foundation of the Big Bang Theory the universe ought to demonstrate expansion as indicated by a distinct red shift distance relationship among extra Galactic objects initially the universe should have

been relatively uniform with structures like stars galaxies and clusters of galaxies is gradually forming and evolving over time in the past the universe was hotter preventing the formation of stable neutral atoms this prediction led to the discovery of the cosmic microwave background which is observable today in the initial stages of the universe when it was extremely hot Atomic nuclei couldn't form stably this led to the creation of Light Elements such as hydrogen helium lithium and their Isotopes the universe was so hot that neutrinos played a significant role recently this prediction was confirmed indicating that Cosmic

neutrinos should have detectable effects on both the large scale structure and the leftover radiation from The Big Bang with strong observational evidence supporting these predictions The Big Bang Theory has remained uncontested as the primary explanation for the early Universe since the mid 1960s coinciding with the discovery of the cosmic microwave background as evidence supporting the hot Big Bang Theory grew in the 1960s and 1970s certain challenges surface that the Big Bang alone couldn't resolve several observations contradicted the concept of the universe originating from a singular state of incredibly high temperatures and densities three of these

challenges Stand Out firstly there's the Horizon problem when we observe different directions the universe seems to possess uniform temperatures and density throughout however since the onset of the hot big bang these regions have never had the opportunity to communicate exchange information or achieve thermal equilibrium with one another this raises the question how did they evolved to exhibit uniform temperature and conditions across the board next let's consider the issue of flatness in a universe that's expanding there's a continual tug of war between the initial expansion pushing things apart and gravitational forces attempting to pull everything back

together remarkably in our universe these opposing forces appear to be perfectly balanced resulting in a spatially flat universe the question arises why did our universe come into existence with these particular characteristics moving on WE encounter the monopole or ancient Relic dilemma if the universe underwent extreme temperatures and energy conditions in its early stages why do we not observe any exotic remnants such as right-handed neutrinos and magnetic monopoles theoretically these particles should be detectable and still present today rather than just taking these conditions as How the Universe came to be which contradicts the scientific method scientists

are looking for a mechanism that would establish and arrange these initial conditions Alan Guth introduced a solution to these cosmological mysteries in 1980 with a groundbreaking paper he suggested that an early phase of rapid and continuous expansion where the universe's energy wasn't spread among matter and radiation particles but was an intrinsic part of space itself via a field or another mechanism could solve all three issues regarding the Horizon problem the uniformity of temperature and density throughout the universe is attributed to the past interconnectedness of everything this connection stretched during the early expansion phase is called

inflation resulting in the current conditions observed for the flatness problem inflation expanded the universe so much that regardless of its initial State the visible part now appears uniformly flat as for the monopole problem the absence of ancient remnants is explained by inflation preventing the universe from reaching excessively High energies or temperatures the maximum temperature reached after inflation avoids the formation of these remnants inflation not only explains these phenomena but also presents a compelling alternative to the standard hot Big Bang model additionally a further issue was addressed to demonstrate how a uniform an isotropic early Universe

could be reinstated after inflation it became evident that inflation could act as a Quantum mechanism for seeding the universe with initial imperfections or the origins of cosmic structure ultimately leading to the intricate formations we see today in the 1980s inflation Theory made precise and testable forecasts about the beginnings of cosmic structure that should be detectable in both the cosmic microwave background and the large scale layout of the universe these forecasts crafted decades ago have been validated by observations spanning from the 1990s to the present day encompassing an almost though not entirely scale in variant spectrum

of imperfections variations in density and temperature density irregularities that are entirely a diabetic and not at all isocurvature in essence fluctuations on scales larger than what a signal traveling at the speed of light in an expanding Universe could generate and a maximum temperature limit for the universe during the hot big bang notably smaller than the plank scale because inflation involves a rapid expansion of space rather than culminating in a singularity like the original model for the Big Bang it presents sense an alternative depiction of the beginning instead of time and space gradually emerging from a

single state inflation proposes a rapid expansion leading to the Big Bang this raises a fundamental question about the actual beginning of the universe if such a notion even makes sense within the framework of the hot big bang without inflation we could trace back and reach a singular state where the universe's size approaches zero in a finite time however inflation complicates this scenario its exponential growth makes it challenging to trace back to a singularity size since reaching a state where the universe had zero size would require an infinite amount of time due to the exponential nature

of inflation adding to the complexity the observable evidence for inflation such as Quantum fluctuations leaving imprints on our visible Universe corresponds to just the final 10 to the power of 32 seconds before inflation leads to the hot big bang if we were hoping to delay the start of an earlier Grand Event inflation ruins those hopes there's nothing observable that gives us clues about what if anything caused inflation a fascinating aspect of inflation is called Eternal inflation when exploring how inflation works almost any model that effectively addresses the issues with the original big bang and creates

the necessary Quantum effects to initiate the universe with imperfections will result in a scenario where while inflation ends in certain areas like our own there will be countless more surrounding regions where inflation continues creating more space that keeps expanding essentially once inflation starts it wipes out any information about what existed before and the inflationary state will persist indefinitely into the future at times Quantum fluctuations akin to those shaping the universe's structure cause certain areas where inflation ceases resulting in a hot big bang however these regions are far fewer compared to those where inflation persists indefinitely

notably no two separate regions with big banks will ever overlap because the expanding Universe drives them apart despite its appeal Eternal inflation has limitations it's Eternal only into the future not into the past in fact it's been demonstrated that inflationary SpaceTime doesn't extend into the past infinitely and must have originated from a prior non-inflationary and possibly singular State the issue of past time like incompleteness can't be avoided by considering Alternatives like bouncing cosmologies or cyclic cosmologies as they face similar challenges however this doesn't necessarily imply that the Universe originated from a singularity while it could

have it's not a strig necessity for example one can Envision A Spacetime resembling the past where inflation takes place by modeling the universe's expansion rate through a scale factor composed of a growing exponential plus a constant rather than just a pure growing exponential in essence the hot big bang while our most accurate model of the early Universe wasn't its absolute Genesis there's a limit on how far back we can extrapolate the temperature and density of matter and radiation filled Universe prior to the hot big bang There existed a period of cosmic inflation which initiated and

led to the hot big bang during inflation space was saturated with energy devoid of matter and radiation and expanded exponentially however inflation couldn't have persisted indefinitely and must have emerged from some pre-existing non-inflationary State unfortunately our knowledge of this earlier state is limited aside from knowing many things it couldn't have been we don't live in a universe where matter drifts in empty space we live in a universe filled with energy fields that interact to form everything we see when considering the vastness of emptiness the endless void and mortality it's striking how the idea of nothingness

can provoke such fear did William Shatner at 90 go on a space journey expecting to find the universe's Mysteries only to realize there was no mystery or Grandeur he encountered only death witnessing a cold dark black void unlike any Darkness on Earth it was overwhelming and all encompassing yet in another Paradox of nothingness Shanner wasn't truly observing a void rather he was looking at a vacuum where a lot was happening that he couldn't see Quantum field theory is one of the the most accurate theories in physics known for predicting the outcomes of many experiments according

to this Theory the universe is not made of matter floating in empty space but of energy fields that permeate space and interact creating everything we observe including ourselves some physicists describe these fields as fluidlike similar to water in a pool While others compare them to a room filled with varying levels of energy like a field of distributed Heat these fields are constantly moving due to Quantum fluctuations brief changes in energy similar to Ripples in a wave caused by external forces exciting the particles within the field for example an electromagnet can cause changes in an electromagnetic

field even in their lowest state known as the vacuum State Fields remain active pairs of positive and negative particles continuously borrow energy from the vacuum briefly appear and then disappear returning the energy these temporary entities are called virtual particles when the field is excited or at a higher energy level it has ripples or waves that produce Elementary particles that persist and interact with each other forming the world we know the type of particles created depends on the field different matter particles are associated with specific types of fermans such as electrons up quarks down quarks and

neutrinos which are fundamental components of all atoms these Firs interact through three types of field electromagnetism involving photons the strong nuclear force involving gluons and the weak nuclear force involving w and z bosons according to Cambridge theoretical physicist David Tonk without these force fields matter particles would drift aimlessly in the universe without interactions or interesting behaviors then there's the higs field which Tong compares to molasses spread throughout the Universe the higs field gives Mass to other particles stopping them from moving at the speed of light Tong notes that this comparison is not perfect because it

suggests friction while in reality different particles interact with the Hig field in various ways all Fields including matter and force fields exist everywhere but interact differently some particles in these fields ignore each other while others interact leading to reactions and complex structures the collaboration of these fields covers everything we understand and observe along with much that remains unknown and beyond our perception oddly the creation of matter particles is an exception for instance an atom forms when there's enough energy in the Quark fields to produce quarks that aren't destroyed by antimatter quarks though the reason for

this is not fully understood gluons which are particles related to the strong force bind with two up quarks and one down Quark to form a proton gluons then connect protons with neutrons to create a nucleus physicists proposed that the visible Universe consists of remnants that survive the constant creation and destruction of virtual particles however the particles making up Dark Matter are a different issue although the universe is full of virtual particles it doesn't completely negate the idea of nothingness first there's the nothingness before the Big Bang which we don't yet understand additionally this nothingness made

up of vast fields of quantum energy seems to produce matter and force leading to the creation of our world physicists are still unsure why some element Elemental particles persisted after the big bang in his book a universe from nothing Lawrence Cross a theoretical physicist and cosmologist argued that the evidence hold the answer the inherently unstable nature of nothingness produces Elementary particles there's also the idea that the entire universe might be a large virtual particle the vacuum Genesis hypothesis proposes that the Universe began as a large fluctuation in the nothingness that preceded it although this hasn't

been proven it's an intriguing concept ultimately everything you me the whole universe amounts to a big bunch of nothingness even if you can picture an empty Universe this doesn't match reality adhering to the laws of physics is enough to dismiss the idea of a truly empty universe as long as there is energy within it even the Zero Point Energy of the quantum vacuum there will always be some form of radiation that can't be eliminated the universe has never been completely empty and as long as dark energy exists it never will be the universe is the

way it is and while we try to understand it as much as we can we should remain humble in the face of its vast unknowns my only advice is to embrace the Curiosity that drives us to explore question and un cover its Mysteries so that's all for this video we'd love to hear your thoughts on this so leave them in the comments below and stay tuned for more content like this