When we hear about the beginning of the universe, many people still associate it with the "Big Bang", don't they?

In detail, the "Inflation" theory of super-expansion before that is the mainstream, but it can also be taken as proof that it has become popular.

This term was evangelized by the Soviet scientist George Gamow, and he is so misunderstood as the originator that he is similar to Ray Kurzweil who popularized the word "Singularity".

In detail, it is said that Gamow spread it around interestingly when he heard his rival, Fred Hoyle, ridicule the theory on a certain program.

In fact, Gamow often does such childish "pranks" in a sense.

Regarding this Big Bang theory, roughly speaking, the early universe gradually expanded from a super-hot, super-dense fireball state.

And together with a young researcher named Ralph Alpher, he led the theory that elements such as hydrogen and helium were formed in order of increasing weight during this expanding process.

However, Gamow noticed the symbol "Alpha (α)" and his own name (Gamow → Gamma (γ)), and named it the Alpha(α)-Beta(β)-Gamma(γ) theory by including even Hans Bethe, who was also his research roommate (although he was a well-known astronomer and gave advice to Gamow).

This is a true story...Alpha was apparently furious, but as he was young then, he reluctantly accepted it.

Moreover, according to the second article below, Gamow further mischievously tried to involve the next Greek letter, Delta(δ), and even tried to rename his research colleague Robert Herman to create an evolutionary version of the theory...

The original paper was published in a scientific journal with approval in 1948, but Japanese researchers raised objections to it.

It was Hayashi Chushiiro, a Japanese astronomer who was a disciple of Yukawa Hideki.

Hayashi's point was that within 2 seconds of the beginning of the Big Bang, it was impossible to form elements heavier than helium, because the interaction before nuclear reactions (when protons, neutrons, and electrons were separate) was calculated in time variation (70% hydrogen and 30% helium), even though there were no computers at that time, this was a remarkable achievement.

This point was recognized and the original paper was revised in 1950 (two years later). Because of this history, some people call it the "Alpha-Beta-Gamma-Hayashi theory".

Hayashi continued to make significant contributions to astrophysics, especially to the theory of stellar evolution.

In summary, he clarified that there is a stage of contraction even when the effective temperature settles down before a star reaches a stable state (called the main sequence star) , which is known as the "Hayashi Phase".

He also worked on establishing a standard model that comprehensively summarizes the formation process of stars and planets that orbit them, and it is considered a powerful model as Kyoto University researchers were at the center of this effort (referred to as the "Kyoto Model").

Gamow is relatively visionary, but I think his contribution to popularizing the word "Big Bang" (which is also frequently used in games and other media) is wonderful.

On the other hand, theorists like Hayashi who carefully build up precise models, even if they are not as well-known as Gamow, are also important.

While the Big Bang theory was not greatly shaken, this is one good example that it is not necessarily an idea that was sparked by a single genius.