eli5 : Why can’t science explain what happened between Os and 10^-43s after Big Bang?
In: Physics
We have sets of equations that we use when trying to explain what happens when things are very small. This is quantum mechanics.
We have a different set of equations that we use when trying to explain what happens with things that are very massive. This is relativity.
Things that are very small are usually not very massive. And things that are very massive are usually not very small. So we are usually either using quantum mechanics *or* relativity.
But some things are very small **and** very massive. Like black holes, or the conditions of the universe a long time ago.
This means we have to use both sets of equations at the same time and when we try to do this, we get answers that don’t make sense. Like infinities. This is the limit of our scientific knowledge. It represents a break down in our laws of physics and prevents us from accurately modeling these kinds of conditions.
When you hear about scientists working on things like String Theory and Quantum Gravity or The Theory of Everything, these are attempts to try and resolve or replace quantum mechanics/relativity with something that doesn’t break down under these conditions.
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