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abundances, and more recently that of lithium, is a sensitive test of our understanding of early universe physics back to the time of
their primordial synthesis.

This is impressive almost to the point of hubris. All the data we possess confirm a theory of cosmology capable of describing the
universe from about a hundredth of a second ATB to the present, some 15 billion years later. Nevertheless, one should not lose
sight of the fact that the newborn universe evolved with phenomenal haste. Tiny fractions of a second—fractions much smaller
than a hundredth of a second—form cosmic epochs during which long-lasting features of the world were first imprinted. And so,
physicists have continued to push onward, trying to explain the universe at ever earlier times. Since the universe gets ever smaller,
hotter, and denser as we push back, an accurate quantum-mechanical description of matter and the forces becomes increasingly
important. As we have seen from other viewpoints in earlier chapters, point-particle quantum field theory works until typical
particle energies are around the Planck energy. In a cosmological context, this occurred when the whole of the known universe fit
within a Planck-sized nugget, yielding a density so great that it strains one's ability to find a fitting metaphor or an enlightening
analogy: the density of the universe at the Planck time was simply colossal. At such energies and densities gravity and quantum
mechanics can no longer be treated as two separate entities as they are in point-particle quantum field theory. Instead, the central
message of this book is that at and beyond these enormous energies we must invoke string theory. In temporal terms, we encounter
these energies and densities when we probe earlier than the Planck time of 10-41 seconds ATB, and hence this earliest epoch is the
cosmological arena of string theory.

Let's head toward this era by first seeing what the standard cosmological theory tells us about the universe before a hundredth of a
second ATB, but after the Planck time.

From the Planck Time to a Hundredth of a Second ATB

Recall from Chapter 7 (especially Figure 7.1) that the three nongravitational forces appear to merge together in the intensely hot
environment of the early universe. Physicists' calculations of how the strengths of these forces vary with energy and temperature
show that prior to about 10-35 seconds ATB, the strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces were all one "grand unified" or "super"
force. In this state the universe was far more symmetric than it is today. Like the homogeneity that follows when a collection of
disparate metals is heated to a smooth molten liquid, the significant differences between the forces as we now observe them were
all erased by the extremes of energy and temperature encountered in the very early universe. But as time went by and the universe
expanded and cooled, the formalism of quantum field theory shows that this symmetry would have been sharply reduced through a
number of rather abrupt steps, ultimately leading to the comparatively asymmetric form with which we are familiar.

It's not hard to understand the physics behind such reduction of symmetry, or symmetry breaking, as it is more precisely called.
Picture a large container filled with water. The molecules of H2O are uniformly spread throughout the container and regardless of
the angle from which you view it, the water looks the same. Now watch the container as you lower the temperature. At first not
much happens. On microscopic scales, the average speed of the water molecules decreases, but that's about all. When you decrease
the temperature to 0 degrees Celsius, however, you suddenly see that something drastic occurs. The liquid water begins to freeze
and turn into solid ice. As discussed in the preceding chapter, this is a simple example of a phase transition. For our present
purpose, the important thing to note is that the phase transition results in a decrease in the amount of symmetry displayed by the
H2O molecules. Whereas liquid water looks the same regardless of the angle from which it is viewed—it appears to be rotationally
symmetric—solid ice is different. It has a crystalline block structure, which means that if you examine it with adequate precision, it
will, like any crystal, look different from different angles. The phase transition has resulted in a decrease in the amount of
rotational symmetry that is manifest.

Although we have discussed only one familiar example, the point is true more generally: as we lower the temperature of many
physical systems, at some point they undergo a phase transition that typically results in a decrease or a "breaking" of some of their
previous symmetries. In fact, a system can go through a series of phase transitions if its temperature is varied over a wide enough
range. Water, again, provides a simple example. If we start with H2O above 100 degrees Celsius, it is a gas: steam. In this form, the
system has even more symmetry than in the liquid phase since now the individual H2O molecules have been liberated from their
congested, stuck-together liquid form. Instead, they all zip around the container on completely equal footing, without forming any
clumps or "cliques" in which groups of molecules single each other out for a close association at the expense of others. Molecular
democracy prevails at high enough temperatures. As we lower the temperature below 100 degrees, of course, water droplets do
form as we pass through a gas-liquid phase transition, and the symmetry is reduced. Continuing on to yet lower temperatures,
nothing too dramatic happens until we pass through 0 degrees Celsius, when, as above, the liquid-water/solid-ice phase transition
results in another abrupt decrease in symmetry.