The big bang as the ultimate traffic jam

We present a novel solution to the nature and formation of the initial state of the Universe. It derives from the physics of a generally covariant extension of matrix theory. We focus on the dynamical state space of this background-independent quantum theory of gravity and matter an infinite-dimensional, complex, nonlinear Grassmannian. When this space is endowed with a FubiniStudy-like metric, the associated geodesic distance between any two of its points is zero. This striking mathematical result translates into a physical description of a hot, zero-entropy Big Bang. The latter is then seen as a far-from-equilibrium, large-fluctuation-driven, metastable ordered transition a "freezing by heating" jamming transition. Moreover, the subsequent unjamming transition could provide a mechanism for inflation while rejamming may model a Big Crunch, the final state of gravitational collapse.