--- title: "New Theory: “Mirror Image” of Our Universe Existed Before Big Bang" description: "According to a new theory, the Big Bang also generated a second \"anti-universe\" that extended backwards in time, like a mirror image of our own." date: "2019-01-06" modified: "2019-01-06" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/new-theory-mirror-image-universe" categories: - "Astrophysics" - "Big Bang" - "Physics" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "anti-universe" - "Cosmology" - "dark matter" - "physics" --- # New Theory: “Mirror Image” of Our Universe Existed Before Big Bang ![According to a new theory, the Big Bang also generated a second "anti-universe" that extended backwards in time, like a mirror image of our own.]() *\Image: Pixabay/Jon Christian\* ## Mirror Image The Big Bang didn't just result in our familiar universe, according to a mind-bending new theory — it also generated a second "anti-universe" that extended backwards in time, like a mirror image of our own. A [new story]() in *Physics World* explores the new theory, which was proposed by a trio of Canadian physicists who say that it could explain the existence of dark matter. ## Anti-Universe The new theory, which is laid out in a [recent paper]() in the journal *Physical Review of Letters*, aims to preserve a rule of physics called CPT symmetry. In the anti-universe before the Big Bang, it suggests, time ran backwards and the cosmos were made of antimatter instead of matter. This new theory is compelling, according to a [news release]() about the new theory, because it would mean that the universe is filled with "very massive sterile neutrinos" that could explain dark matter, a mysterious material that is [believed to make up much of the universe](). ## New Particle By the researchers' own admission, according to *Physics World*, many details of the new theory still need to be hammered out. But co-author Neil Turok, of the Perimetery Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario, argued in an interview with the publication that the new theory is a strong one because it relies only on known particles and fields, instead of assuming that new ones will be discovered in the future. "There is this frame of mind that you explain a new phenomenon by inventing a new particle or field," he told *Physics World*. "I think that may turn out to be misguided." **READ MORE:** [Our universe has antimatter partner on the other side of the Big Bang, say physicists]() \[*Physics World*\] ***More on the dark matter:** [An Oxford Scientist May Have Solved the Mystery of Dark Matter]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()