Work

Can we live in a baby universe formed by a delayed first-order phase transition?

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: We examine the idea that our Universe began as a baby universe and show that this is feasible in a gauged U ( 1 ) B − L extension of the Standard Model with the classically conformal principle. For the first time, we define a measure to describe the probability that we reside in a baby universe, and find that it can be close to 1 in a considerable portion of the parameter space. The framework is consistent with current cosmological data, and it predicts the existence of a heavy neutral gauge boson, which could be detected at colliders, thereby offering a direct link between early universe dynamics and experimentally testable signatures at the TeV scale.

Source: Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

DOI: 10.1103/qxwm-xb8d

Authors: Qing-Hong Cao, Masanori Tanaka, Jun-Chen Wang, Ke-Pan Xie, Jing-Jun Zhang

Institutions: Peking University, Zhengzhou University, Beihang University

Language: English

Topic: Cosmology and Gravitation Theories

Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: National Natural Science Foundation of China, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China

Awards: G1067844314, G6087379962