Big Bang: Protons vs Matter - Exploring the Origins

[aherrera]

Hello,

I hope you don't mind a question from a complete novice and someone not related to physics at all. I am simply an interested observer.

My question regards the alleged Big Bang, and the follow-up theory that from that bang matter and anti matter were created. Is it possible that instead of matter, what was produced was individual protons, and instead of ani-matter what was produced was electrons? Could the collision of these particles in the early stages is what produced the static we hear as radioactive noise? Then when sufficient electrons found a proton to attach themselves to, stability was created and elements formed?

I may be off in my thinking, but I'm trying to find order in the beginning.

Thank you very much.

Antonio

 

[mathman]

Pair production (the primary mechanism for matter creation) produces matter-antimatter pairs, such as proton-antiproton. The big question is why did an excess of matter survive?

 

[aherrera]

Thanks,

Could anti-matter, through some process, be converted to matter? Perhaps two anti-matter particles colliding?
Could Dark Matter actually be a heavier element than what we know of on Earth, and effects gravity in such a way that makes it difficult for us to detect?

I love asking questions because they make me think. I thank you for your time.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Thanks,

Could anti-matter, through some process, be converted to matter? Perhaps two anti-matter particles colliding?

Two antimatter particles colliding would have the same effect as colliding two matter particles, i.e. do it with enough energy and they break up. I'm pretty sure that you could use the same techniques we use in particle accelerators to generate antimatter from matter to make matter from antimatter.

Could Dark Matter actually be a heavier element than what we know of on Earth, and effects gravity in such a way that makes it difficult for us to detect?

I love asking questions because they make me think. I thank you for your time.

Dark matter is strange because it doesn't interact with normal matter except through gravity. I.e. it's invisible. What's weirder about it is that it doesn't seem to interact with itself too well either. I forget their name but there are two galaxies that have been observed to be colliding, in the process the dark matter from either galaxy has shot through the other and started to fly off by itself.

 

[aherrera]

Dark matter is strange because it doesn't interact with normal matter except through gravity. I.e. it's invisible. What's weirder about it is that it doesn't seem to interact with itself too well either. I forget their name but there are two galaxies that have been observed to be colliding, in the process the dark matter from either galaxy has shot through the other and started to fly off by itself.

Can I ask how that was determined? Is it because the total mass of the galaxies is now less that what the combined mass should be? Is it that the dark matter shot off as an energy release, similar to a nuclear chain reaction?

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Can I ask how that was determined? Is it because the total mass of the galaxies is now less that what the combined mass should be? Is it that the dark matter shot off as an energy release, similar to a nuclear chain reaction?

I've remembered the name; it's the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullet_Cluster" . Here's the wiki section on the dark matter detection

The third component, the dark matter, was detected indirectly by the gravitational lensing of background objects. In theories without dark matter, such as Modified Newtonian Dynamics, the lensing would be expected to follow the baryonic matter; i.e. the X-ray gas. However, the lensing is strongest in two separated regions near the visible galaxies. This provides support for the idea that most of the mass in the cluster pair is in the form of collisionless dark matter.

 

[George Jones]

Could Dark Matter actually be a heavier element than what we know of on Earth, and effects gravity in such a way that makes it difficult for us to detect?

It might seem that dark matter could be made of cold (so we don't see it glow), heavy elements. However, theoretical studies of the production of chemical elements after the Big Bang, together with observations of cosmic abundances of chemical elements today, show most of the dark matter is not made of the same type of matter that makes up ordinary stuff. By ordinary stuff, I mean things like people, planets, and stars, (and heavy elements) for which protons and neutrons make up the majority of their masses. This also rules out heavy elements and also black holes that formed from the collapse of stars, as the stars were originally made of protons and neutrons. Physicists think that dark matter requires particles that have yet to be observed directly. Protons and neutrons are examples of subatomic particles called baryons, so physicists think that dark matter is non-baryonic.

I forget their name but there are two galaxies that have been observed to be colliding, in the process the dark matter from either galaxy has shot through the other and started to fly off by itself.

The Bullet Cluster is probably the most famous example.

[edit]I see that Ryan_m_b already posted this while I was typing[/edit]

 

[aherrera]

Thank you. You've given me something to ponder. I wonder if more Dark Matter was created because of the collision.