How was the mass and gravity in the universe created?
The Creation of gravity:
Standing on the earth’s surface, we experience a force of gravity of 1 G. When you accelerate in an airplane on takeoff, you experience a G-force as you are pushed back into your seat. Acceleration can create a force similar to the force we experience from gravity. If you were inside a rocket ship accelerating into space at 1 G, you would feel a gravity force that is similar to standing on the earth’s surface. If you could not look out the window and see that you are moving, you would have a difficult time knowing that the force holding you to the floor is caused by acceleration and not by the earth’s gravity. In this case, the gravity created by acceleration seems to be the same as the earth’s gravity. Since acceleration can produce a gravity-like force, could the rapid acceleration of the universe at the start of the big bang explosion also create the gravity found in the universe?Einstein reported that the “happiest thought” of his life occurred when He realized the equivalence of acceleration and gravity. Einstein’s “happiest thought” is illustrated in the following thought experiment that led Him to develop the General Theory of Relativity.
The above picture shows how acceleration is equivalent to gravity. The person in the accelerating box at the left experiences the same environment as the person in the earth’s gravity at the right. They both drop a ball and see it fall to the floor at the same rate. The extreme acceleration in the early universe creates gravity.
The Creation of Mass:
Our everyday experience with motion helps us understand how acceleration can create gravity. But how is the mass of the universe created? Recall that the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle from Quantum Mechanics provides the trigger event that sets off the Big Bang explosion. Quantum Mechanics will again come to the rescue and help us understand how mass can be created. The Unruh Effect from Quantum Mechanics explains how acceleration creates mass. The Unruh Effect tells us that acceleration creates a warm sea of particles.
Thus, the acceleration caused by the expansion of the early universe can create both mass and gravity together.
The equation for the Unruh Effect is shown below:
T = Temperature of the created particles
h = Planck’s constant
a = acceleration
c = Speed of light
k = Boltzmann’s constant
Temperature is merely a measure of the movement, or energy, in the surrounding particles. Thus the creation of mass must accompany the creation of temperature.
We see from this equation that the temperature is proportional to acceleration. As the acceleration approaches infinity, the temperature also approaches infinity. A rapidly accelerating early universe produces a lot of mass and heat energy.
The picture below shows an imaginary observer accelerating at the outer edge of the big bang explosion. If this person could survive, he or she would experience both gravity and mass creation.
Nature provides a way to create both the gravity and the mass in our universe. Only acceleration is needed.
Next Section:
Why do things exist?
