Well, what happens in that sort of situation is that the entire system is thermalized: when you have temperatures far above the rest mass energies of various particles, then collisions will frequently produce particle/anti-particle pairs of them. So you end up with energy equally distributed throughout the various degrees of freedom of the system. Photons have two available spin states, and thus two degrees of freedom. Electrons have two available spin states plus anti-particles, so between the positrons and electrons you have four degrees of freedom. Thus the electrons and positrons will between them have twice the energy as the photons, as long as the temperature remains far above the rest mass of the electron.Spinnor said:Say we are in the early Universe where energies are large compared with any rest mass in the standard model.
At this time how will the energy in the electron field compare with the energy in the photon field?
Thanks for any help!
Ah, yeah, I thought I was missing a factor somewhere, but couldn't find it quickly to make sure. Thanks.nicksauce said:There's also a factor of 7/8 that comes into play: Ignoring internal states, the energy density of a relativistic species of fermions will be 7/8 the energy density of a relativistic species of boson.
The energy in the early Universe was distributed evenly throughout the entire Universe. This was due to the rapid expansion of the Universe, which caused the energy to be spread out uniformly.
During the early Universe, energy existed in the form of radiation, which includes photons and other electromagnetic waves. It also existed in the form of matter, including particles such as protons, neutrons, and electrons.
The distribution of energy played a crucial role in the evolution of the early Universe. It was responsible for the expansion of the Universe and the formation of the first structures, such as galaxies and stars. It also determined the temperature and density of the Universe, which influenced the formation of particles and their interactions.
As the Universe continued to expand, the energy became less densely packed and spread out more. This resulted in a decrease in temperature and density, leading to the formation of atoms and the cooling of the Universe.
Today, energy is distributed in the Universe in the form of various sources, such as radiation from stars and galaxies, dark matter, and dark energy. It is not evenly distributed, as there are regions of higher and lower energy densities due to the formation of structures over time.