The Early Universe Facts and Fiction
Connections developed in recent years between particle physics and cosmologyare the focus of attention in this new textbook. The author describes some of the theories which have been developed to describe the fundamental interaction of elementary particle
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Gerhard Bomer
The Early Universe Facts and Fiction
Second Enlarged Edition With 93 Figures and 15 Mostly Colored Plates
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg GmbH
Professor Dr. Gerhard Borner Max-Planck-Institut fur Physik und Astrophysik Institut flir Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse I W-8046 Oarching, FRO
Editors Wolf Beiglbock
Walter Thirring
Institut fur Angewandte Mathematik UniversiHit Heidelberg 1m Neuenheimer Feld 294 W-6900 Heidelberg 1, FRO
Institut flir Theoretische Physik der Universitat Wien Boltzmanngasse 5 A-1090 Wien, Austria
Elliott H. Lieb Jadwin Hall Princeton University P. O. Box 708 Princeton, NJ 08544-0708, USA
ISBN 978-3-540-54656-6 ISBN 978-3-662-02734-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-02734-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. Borner, G. (Gerhard), 1941- . The early universe: facts and fiction / G. Borner. - 2nd enl. ed. p. cm. - (Texts and monographs in physics). Includes bibliographical references and index. l. Cosmology. 2. Particles (Nuclear physics). 3. Nuclear astrophysics. I. Title. II. Series. QB981.B725 1992 523.1-dc20 91-34796 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law.
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1988 and 1992 Originally published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York in 1992.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not
imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Typesetting: K+V Fotosatz, W-6124 Beerfelden 55/3140-543210 - Printed on acid-free paper
"Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities: truth isn't." (Mark Twain "Pudd'nhead Wilson's new calendar")
To Mara
Preface to the First Edition
Connections between particle physics and cosmology have received much attention in recent years. There is no better place to study the fundamental interaction of elementary particles than the early universe with its extremely high thermal energies. Unfortunately the observers appear on the stage several billion years too late, and can find only leftovers from the brilliant beginning. For the theorists, however, the early universe is a wonderful playground. The impact of elementary particle theories on cosmology is unavoidable, and, for any sketch of a fundamental theory, cosmological consequences follow. Thus many speculative scenarios have been suggested and partly explor
