BY JOSE PALU-AY DACUDAO
BELOW is a summary of the important events of the early Universe:
Time zero (technically 10 to the negative 43 seconds, known as Planck time, which according to quantum physics is the minimal interval of time for which there could be any physical or temporal meaning): The Universe emerges from a singularity. The Universe is essentially composed of a single force of nature. Shortly after, according to the Inflation Theory of American physicist Alan Guth, the Universe expands tremendously in an accelerated manner, pushed by the processes in which this single unified force of nature split apart into the four fundamental forces of nature known today: gravitation, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak forces of particle physics.
Time 15 to the negative 33 seconds: Inflation ends, and the Universe has stupendously ballooned to a size 10 centimeters in diameter from almost nothing.
Time ten-thousandth of a second: The Universe has a temperature of a thousand billion degrees Celsius and has the density of an atomic nucleus. Material particles such as protons and electrons are interchangeable with energy in the form of photons (light quanta) in accordance with Einstein’s equation E = mc squared.
Time one-hundredth of a second: The Universe has a temperature of a 100 billion degrees Celsius, and protons and neutrons, from which the ordinary matter that we know today is made of, have stabilized in equal amounts.
Time 1 second: There are 24 neutrons for every 76 protons, as interactions between these particles and energetic electrons have converted more of the neutrons into protons than vice versa, and the temperature has fallen to 10 billion degrees Celsius. The density of the Universe is now 380,000 times the density of water.
Time 14 seconds: The temperature of the Universe is 3 billion degrees Celsius, and nuclear reactions could now take place, temporarily fusing protons and neutrons.
Time three minutes: The temperature has cooled to one billion degrees Celsius, about 70 times hotter than the center of our sun, and deuterium (a nucleus of one proton and one neutron) could now survive. A series of nuclear reactions start taking place, converting some of the protons (hydrogen nuclei) and deuterium nuclei into stable nuclei of helium (each containing two protons and two neutrons), together with a trace of other light elements such as lithium, in a process known as nucleosynthesis. Just under 25 per cent of the nuclear material ended up in the form of helium, with all but a fraction of 1 per cent of the rest in the form of hydrogen.
Time 30 minutes: The temperature of the Universe has fallen to 300 million degrees Celsius, and the density to only 10% of water. Matter is in a state called plasma (wherein nuclei of hydrogen and helium coexist with free electrons because it is still too hot for nuclei to capture electrons in stable orbits), similar to the state of matter in the sun’s interior today. Light quanta or photons keep on bumping and interacting with the electrically polarized plasma matter.
Time 300,000 years: The temperature has cooled to 6000 degrees Celsius (same as the in the surface of the sun today). It is now cool enough for nuclei to begin to hold on to electrons and form atoms. Because atoms are electrically neutral overall, they cease to interact with radiation (in the form of light quanta or photons), which is now free to go on its way unimpeded throughout the Universe. Suddenly light appears. It is this radiation, now cooled to about -270° C (-454° F or 3 K), that is detected by radio telescopes as the cosmic microwave background radiation.
Time one million years: Stars and galaxies begin to form.
Time 10 billion years: Life appears on earth, in all its wonderful complexity and diversity. Life as we know it is the most complex phenomenon known to scientists in the Universe.
Why am I writing about the prevailing theories of the origin of the Universe, in this column about Federalism and Languages?
My point is simple: The advocacy of Federalism and the diversity ethnic identities is in harmony with the Universe. In Federal countries, diversity and complexity is maintained and encouraged. Each local state functions nearly independently, naturally leading to diverse and complex social structures and cultures. A Federal country is fundamentally a system made of smaller harmoniously interacting component systems. Typical of a diversified system, a Federal country is much more stable than a uniform Unitarian country, as evidenced by the fact that there has never been a coup d’etat or violent revolution that has succeeded in a Federal country. Compared to adjacent Unitarian countries in the same geopolitical area Federal countries have also always been more economically prosperous. (To be continued)/PN
