Understanding the changes that occurred immediately after the Big Bang is difficult because of insufficient observational evidence, so astrophysicists rely on modeling to test the theory.
A recent study published in Nature has devised a completely new model for this purpose.
Previous theories agreed that the early universe was probably very cold and close to absolute zero, so the researchers simulated the early universe with low-temperature potassium atoms.
A laser was used to slow the atoms down as they cooled to slightly above absolute zero, creating a Bose-Einstein condensed superfluid.
After that, the researchers used a specially designed projector to emit light and push the superfluid particles in a certain way so that the superfluid particles propagate in both directions.
The researchers simulated the propagation pattern of particles in the early universe by manipulating the propagation speed of the superfluid particles.
For example, in the experiment, the ripple-like pattern of particles moving in the superfluid matches the theoretical prediction of particle pairs after the Big Bang.
