Particle chauvinism
Particle chauvinism is the term used by British astrophysicist Martin Rees to describe the (erroneous) assumption that what we think of as normal matter – atoms, quarks, electrons, etc. (excluding dark matter or other matter) – is the basis of matter in the universe, rather than a rare phenomenon.[1]
Dominance of dark matter[]
With the growing recognition in the late 20th century of the presence of dark matter in the universe, ordinary baryonic matter has come to be seen as something of a cosmic afterthought.[2] As John D. Barrow put it, "This would be the final Copernican twist in our status in the material universe. Not only are we not at the center of the universe: we are not even made of the predominant form of matter."[3]
The 21st century saw the share of baryonic matter in the total energy of the universe downgraded further, to perhaps as low as 1%,[4] further extending what has been called the demise of particle chauvinism,[5] before being revised up to some 5% of the contents of the universe.[6]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ M Rees, Just Six Numbers (London 2000) p. 83
- ^ A C Fabian, Origins (1988) p. 19
- ^ J Barrow, The Origin of the Universe (London 1994) p. 74
- ^ M Gasperini, The Universe Before the Big Bang (Springer 2008) p. 159
- ^ P Coles ed., The Routledge Companion to the New Cosmology (2004) p. 28
- ^ S Clark, The Unknown Universe (London 2016) p. 13
External links[]
- Exceptionalism
- Astronomical hypotheses
- Chauvinism
- Physical cosmology
- Dark matter