Knotted energy fields may explain the universe's matter dominance

Knotted energy fields may explain the universe's matter dominance
by Riko Seibo
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Oct 23, 2025

A 19th-century hypothesis dismissed for decades is now illuminating one of physics' most perplexing mysteries: why our universe is made primarily of matter rather than antimatter. Researchers in Japan have proposed that knotted energy fields, or "cosmic knots", arising naturally in an expanded particle physics model, may have briefly dominated the early universe and tipped the balance in favor of matter.

This theory traces back to Lord Kelvin's 1867 suggestion that atoms were knots in the aether - a concept soon disproven. However, physicists have now shown that, within a realistic extension of the Standard Model, such knots can still play a critical role at cosmic scales.

Japanese scientists from the International Institute for Sustainability with Knotted Chiral Meta Matter (SKCM2) at Hiroshima University, working with a collaborator in Germany, combined two advanced symmetry concepts - Baryon Number Minus Lepton Number (B-L) and the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry - to create a framework where knots form and could account for the slight surplus of matter after the Big Bang.

"These knots might explain why the universe contains stars, galaxies, and ourselves, essentially addressing why any matter survived at all," said Muneto Nitta, a special appointment professor at Hiroshima University's SKCM2.

The Big Bang theoretically generated equal amounts of matter and antimatter, causing mutual annihilation, but observations show matter prevailed. The newly proposed model resolves the Standard Model's inadequacy at producing enough excess matter - known as baryogenesis - by leveraging the dynamical effects of knotted energy fields during a "knot-dominated era".

Two key symmetry extensions are at play. The PQ symmetry addresses the strong CP problem and introduces axions, leading dark matter candidates. The B-L symmetry accommodates massive neutrinos, explaining their ability to pass through matter nearly undetected. Within this updated framework, as the early universe cooled, phase transitions produced thread-like cosmic defects. By combining flux-carrying B-L strings and superfluid-like PQ vortices, stable knot solitons could emerge.

"Nobody had studied these two symmetries at the same time. Putting them together revealed a stable knot," explained Nitta.

Eventually, these knots decayed via quantum tunneling, producing heavy right-handed neutrinos whose subsequent decay favored the creation of more matter than antimatter - a necessary condition for our existence. This cascade of particles reheated the universe and cemented the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry.

Calculations showed that the typical mass of the heavy neutrinos and the energy released from knot collapse naturally resulted in a universe reheating to 100 GeV - precisely the threshold for lasting matter formation. The theory predicts this process imprinted a gravitational-wave signal with distinctive frequencies that future observatories may detect.

"Cosmic strings are topological solitons, and their stability is tied to their fundamental properties. Our results are robust and not tied to specific model details," said Minoru Eto, co-author and professor at Yamagata University. The researchers see their model as a strong step toward solving the universe's matter-antimatter mystery.

Nitta emphasizes the need for further theoretical and simulation work to predict formation and decay of these knots, encouraging future gravitational-wave experiments in testing whether the universe indeed traversed a knot-dominated epoch.

Research Report:Tying Knots in Particle Physics