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【Maintaining Energy Balance Part I : Cosmic Part 维持能量的平衡上编-宇宙编】
After a brief existence, they annihilate, forming the "quantum foam" of spacetime.The inflaton field hypothesis: Inflation theory proposes that an unknown scalar field (the inflaton field) contains an extremely high energy density, storing potential energy for the subsequent exponential expansion.Multiverse possibility: Quantum fluctuations may generate countless "bubbles" of universes, with our universe being just one of them (Andrei Linde's eternal inflation model).In the Tao Te Ching, "Nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth" describes the chaotic state before the Big Bang, where yin and yang were not yet distinguished, and there was no inside or outside — echoing the "ex nihilo" creation of the quantum vacuum."Tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, Three gives birth to all things" — "One" can be seen as a metaphor for the energy of the inflaton field, and "Two" as the unity of opposites after symmetry breaking (such as matter and antimatter).
In Indian philosophy, Brahman is regarded as the origin of the universe—both void and all things, akin to the potential energy state of the quantum vacuum. In Buddhism, "dependent origination and emptiness" holds that the birth of the universe requires countless causes and conditions (such as the parameters of the inflaton field and the strengths of fundamental forces). If any of these conditions changed, the structure of the universe would collapse, illustrating that "all dharmas arise from causes and conditions." The "selflessness" (lack of inherent nature) of the quantum vacuum resonates with the Buddhist saying "form is emptiness"—the seemingly solid material world is, in essence, a temporary aggregation of energy. The birth and annihilation of virtual particle pairs may appear to violate energy conservation, yet overall they maintain a dynamic balance (total borrowed energy equals total repaid energy).
The "tilting" of the Higgs field's potential energy breaks symmetry, endowing particles with mass and laying the foundation for the material universe — this is the key transition of energy from uniformity to differentiation. When the energy density of the inflaton field reaches a critical value, the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, triggering the exponential expansion of spacetime (similar to "Taiji gives birth to the two forms").
At the Planck scale, gravity and quantum effects counterbalance each other, preventing the complete collapse of spacetime structure (as in the "spacetime atom" hypothesis of loop quantum gravity). The universe before the Big Bang was a chaotic theater where energy and void danced together; science...
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