Our Universe is unimaginably old and its vastness can only really be studied and talked about on a very small scale, as to be truthfully understood. So enters the GUT or grand unified theory, a sort of simplified theory of everything, explaining the vastness of the universe today by breaking down the seconds after the Big Bang that created it. These few seconds after the Big Bang have been broken up into more simple categories by astrophysicists to explain the numerous things that were going on. There are 4 fundamental forces in the Universe, the strong force, the electromagnetic force, the weak force, and gravity, these forces govern the rules of the universe. Directly after the Big Bang it is thought all these forces were unified, into one overarching force. The same way electricity and magnetism were thought to be separate but were found to be the same force it's the same with these four forces, if we constructed a theory to describe this unification directly after the Big Bang, we’d technically have a theory of everything and how it works.
The Planck Era, the first era of the Universe, is possibly the only era in which these forces were all combined. It is theorized to have lasted from the first moment of the universe, until 10^-43 seconds after the Big Bang. Our current theories/models of physics can't really explain this time of the universe and they are effectively broken down and ineffective. By studying this time period we hope to construct all inclusive theories that make it possible to effectively discuss anytime of the universe.
The GUT Era comes next, although a little less speculative than the Planck era, a lot of what is happening during this time is also theorized. It's believed it began when gravity separated itself from the other 3 forces, with the strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces now their own separate force. This era ended when the strong force became its own force as well and it is thought that the strong force doing this is what brought about inflation.
The Electroweak era comes less and since it's farther away from the immense energy that resulted from the Big Bang a little more is known about it. Inflation is thought to have occurred during the Electroweak era, during which the universe expanded faster than the speed light and accounts for its vast expansion in size at that time. The observed large scale structure of the Universe is the result of quantum mechanical variations being blown up and carried out at this time of the Universe. After this era all four of the forces had become fully separated.
Although it was such a long time ago and may seem pointless to some there are many reasons why understanding how exactly the universe began is important to us today. The saying “Those who don’t learn about the past are bound to repeat it” can be used in parts to explain the importance of the research being done on GUT theory. Knowledge is power and the importance of knowing what made the universe is unrivaled in importance by anything else we could possibly putting money into. Although expensive we as a people should be willingly to spend limitless amounts of money to discover what made us, us and where we in fact came from not only as a species but universe.
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