Double bubble (Image: Detlev Van Ravenswaay/SPL)
DID the big bang boil? The birth of our universe could have seethed with hot bubbles and, perhaps, a second period of rapid expansion. Such an episode may have left an imprint on the universe that persists to this day and might mean we’re on the wrong track in our hunt for dark matter.
Just 10-37 seconds or so after its birth, a period of inflation is thought to have caused the universe to balloon in size. This process is thought to have amplified tiny quantum fluctuations in the vacuum, giving rise…
