The physics worked differently when the universe was young—before the first stars and certainly before the first physicists. Well, Stephon Alexander of Penn State says, yes, it’s likely that the rules governing particles and forces changed soon after the Big Bang—but scientists haven’t come up with a theory that goes back that far. However, he says they’re hoping to find a connection between this early era and another great physics mystery.


STEPHON ALEXANDER (Penn State University): Dark energy could actually be a consequence of—we expect it to be a consequence of—some unknown physics or law in the early universe.