"Over the last 100 years, we've discovered where our Universe came from. A period of cosmic inflation stretched space flat, seeding the Universe with quantum fluctuations. Then inflation ended, converting its field energy into matter, antimatter, and radiation. Afterwards, the Universe expanded and cooled, forming atoms, stars, galaxies, and humans. However, despite all we've learned, these five major mysteries remain. 1.) How did matter win out over antimatter? All known particle physics reactions only create or destroy matter and antimatter in equal amounts."
"2.) What is dark matter, and how did it arise? The cosmic structures we observe require abundant quantities of dark matter. Yet dark matter's nature, and its origins, remain unexplained. 3.) When did the first stars form, and what were they like? Despite sensational claims, no truly pristine stars have been observed. We've yet to discover when they first ignited, or what properties they possessed."
Cosmic inflation stretched space flat and seeded the Universe with quantum fluctuations. Inflation ended and converted its field energy into matter, antimatter, and radiation. The Universe subsequently expanded and cooled, allowing atoms, stars, galaxies, and humans to form. Five major unresolved problems persist: the baryon asymmetry that left matter dominant despite symmetric particle reactions; the nature and origin of dark matter that sculpts cosmic structure; the timing and properties of the first stars, since no pristine examples have been observed; which inflationary model occurred; and what, if anything, preceded the inflationary state or initiated spacetime.
Read at Big Think
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