There's Nothing There - Part 3

So here's what we resolved - everything came from nothing. So nothing actually matters. That is, the nothingness that gave birth to the somethingness is a nothingness that matters.

So if we blithely say that there's nothing in the universe, that nothing might actually be something.

But we need to redefine our terms. Big Bang will do that for us, since it has already shown the everything can come from nothing, since everything did in fact come from nothing.

So let's look at our questions - why is there something rather than nothing in the universe?

The first answer is, the nothing is actually something.

Here's what the universe did.

It arrived with nothing it in. No energy, no matter, no laws of physics. Just space and time. Space-time.

So it took no energy at all and turned it into two types of energy - positive and negative. Positive energy will quickly become matter (e=mc**2), negative energy even more quickly became gravity. And they exactly cancel it each other out. The energy that produces matter, by the way, is light. Photons. Light becomes matter. All the matter of the universe comes from light.

So now we have space-time, gravity and matter.

Let's define gravity. Gravity is an interaction between space-time and matter. Matter bends space-time. Bent space-time tells matter how to move. Matter tells space-time how to bend. John Wheeler said that. He was right.

Interaction. Remember that word.

Just before the universe produced any matter, it gave us the laws of physics, the forces of nature - Strong Force, Electromagnetic Force, and Weak Force.

But as it turns out, the Forces are not with us if there are no particles for them to interact with.

So the universe gave us particles - quarks, electrons, and a sticky little particle called a gluon. It glues stuff on.

The Strong Force interacts via gluons and quarks, and glues quarks together into protons and neutrons.

Now we've got protons, neutrons and electrons. The Electromagnetic Force interacts via electrons.

Interaction. Remember that word.

That's all in about 3-4 minutes after Big Bang.

Then we wait about 378,000 years for the universe to cool down a bit. After which, it produces atomic nuclei from protons and neutrons and simple atoms from atomic nuclei and electrons. This is all because of the Strong Force via quarks and gluons and the Electromagnetic Force via electrons.

Interaction.

Gravity kicks in, and all those simple hydrogen gas molecules roll down a gravitational well or two (gravity, the interaction of space-time and matter) until things get really hot and pressured, and lo and behold, a star is born out of the interaction of space-time, matter, gravity, and a little smidge of both the Electromagnetic Force and the Weak Force (which has it own particles, the W and Z boson).

Here's what stars do. Stars make all the elements that you need for life and planets out of hydrogen. Which is made from a proton and an electron. Which come from light. Which comes from the universe making something out of nothing. That is, matter and energy out of no energy at all. And this all happens because the universe conjured up forces.

And what is a force, anyway?

It's apparently something that makes particles do things. Or, the force is the particles, and the particles are the force.

And it all comes from nothing, except for one thing.

Interaction. Remember that word.