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Particle chauvinism

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Particle chauvinism is the term used by British astrophysicist Martin Rees to describe the (allegedly 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

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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 J.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 mass-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

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References

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  1. ^ Rees, M. (2000). Just Six Numbers. London, UK. p. 83.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Fabian, A.C. (1988). Origins. p. 19.
  3. ^ Barrow, J.D. (1994). The Origin of the Universe. London, UK. p. 74.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Gasperini, M. (2008). The Universe Before the Big Bang. Springer. p. 159.
  5. ^ Coles, P., ed. (2004). The Routledge Companion to the New Cosmology. p. 28.
  6. ^ Clark, S. (2016). The Unknown Universe. London, UK. p. 13.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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