Was Big Bang a phase transition (critical phenomenon)? If "yes", what is the order parameter and what determined the value of the order parameter chosen?
When talking about phase transitions we usually assume existence of fluctuations that affect the choice of the order parameters, but what could have determined the direction of evolution of the Universe as a whole?
Background
Wikipedia article on Big Bang mentions phase transition in two instances:
At approximately $10^{−37}$ seconds into the expansion, a phase transition caused a cosmic inflation, during which the universe grew exponentially, unconstrained by the light speed invariance, and temperatures dropped by a factor of 100,000.
and
Symmetry-breaking phase transitions put the fundamental forces of physics and the parameters of elementary particles into their present form, with the electromagnetic force and weak nuclear force separating at about $10^{−12}$ seconds.
(Emphasis is mine)
See also: Phase transitions in the early universe by Hindmarsh et al.