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Loading...In the 1950s, there were two competing theories regarding the origin of the universe.
The first or the Steady State Theory was formulated by Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold, and Fred Hoyle. It postulated that the universe was homogeneous in space and time and had remained that way forever.
The second is called the Big Bang theory, which is based on the observations made by Edwin Hubble in 1929 that the universe was expanding.
A few physicists led by George Gamow showed an expanding universe meant that it might have had its beginning in a very hot infinitely dense environment, which then expanded to generate the one we live in today.
They were able to show the radiation emitted approximately 300,000 years after the beginnings of the expansion should be visible today because before that time space was so hot that protons and electrons existed only as free ions making the universe opaque to radiation. This period is referred as the age of "recombination".
Additionally they predicted this Cosmic Background Radiation or radiation left over from the age of recombination would have cooled form several thousand K back when it was generated to 2.7 K today due to the expansion of the universe.
The conflict between the Steady State and Big Bang Theory was resolved when it was discovered by Penzias and Wilson in 1965 because it showed the temperature of the universe had changed through time, which was a direct contradiction to the Steady State Model".
However, if the universe began as an expansion of in an infinitely dense hot environment one would expect the universe and Cosmic Background Radiation to be homogeneous because an infinitely dense environment must be, by definition homogeneous. Therefore, if there the universe was homogeneous when it began it should still be.
But the existence of galactic clusters and the variations in the intensity of the cosmic background radiation discovered by NASA’s WMAP satellite show the universe is not and was not homogeneous either now or at the time of recombination.
Many proponents of the big bang model assume that these "anisotropy" in the universe are caused by quantum fluctuations in the energy density of space. They define quantum fluctuations as a temporary change in the energy of space caused by the uncertainty principle.
They have been able to mathematically show that very small quantum fluctuations in the energy content of the universe back when it first formed would have expanded enough to not only the create the observed variations in the intensity of the CBR but also the existence of galactic clusters.
However, there is an equally valid alternative interpretation of the existence of galactic clusters and the variations in the intensity of the CBR that has not been given serious consideration by modern science.
This alternative (as was shown in the article The Return of the Big Bang is based on the fact that according to the presently accepted laws of physics the universe may enter a contraction phase.
“Briefly it showed one can, by assuming space is composed of four *spatial* dimensions instead of four dimensional space time derive the equivalence between kinetic and potential energy in terms of oppositely directed curvatures in "surface" of a three-dimensional space manifold with respect to a fourth *spatial*dimension by extrapolating the laws of classical physics of three-dimensional space to a fourth *spatial* dimension. Additionally, it was shown these curvatures are analogous to the space-time curvature the theory of relativity associates with mass and energy and therefore both define this equivalence in terms of the equation E=mc^2.
However, this means that, similar to relativity, energy in all its forms must also posses the potential energy associated with mass. Additionally the asymmetry of the equation E=mc^2 tells us kinetic energy is oppositely directed from the potential energy of its mass/energy.
This means a balance exists between the potential energy of the universe’s mass/energy and the oppositely directed kinetic energy associated with its expansion because, as mentioned earlier all of its expansive energy must come from its mass/energy. However, if "m" is the total mass/energy of the universe the equation E=mc^2 also defines the total energy available for its expansion. If one then substitutes "c" for "v" in the equation for kinetic energy (KE=1/2mv^2) one arrives at the equation 1/2mc^2. This equation defines the ratio of the total kinetic energy available to power the expansion of the universe to its mass/energy content. This indicates there is a 1 to 1 correspondence between the potential energy of the universe’s mass/energy and the total quantity of oppositely directed energy associated with its expansion.
However, not all of the energy of the big bang is directed towards its expansion because of the random motion of its mass/energy components. For example, observations indicate that some stars and galaxies are moving towards not away us as would be expected if the expansion were uniform. Therefore, the contractive mass/energy potential of the universe will exceed the expansive kinetic energy created by the big bang because as mentioned earlier they must be have been equal at the time of its origin.
Therefore, at some point in time the big Bang theory predicts that no matter how much energy it contained, the contractive potential of the mass/energy of the universe must increase to the point where it exceeds the energy of its expansive kinetic energy. At that point, in time the universe will enter a contractive phase.
The heat generated by its collapse would raise its temperature to a point where all matter would become ionized, including that contained in black holes making the universe opaque to radiation. While the radiation pressure generated by its increasing temperature would eventually halt the contraction and allow it to enter an expansion phase, which would generate another Age of Recombination, as cosmologists like to call it is when the cosmic background radiation was emitted.”
If this were true, it would mean that the expansion of the universe did not begin from an infinitely dense environment but from an extended less dense spatial environment. This also means that the variations in the intensity of the CBR and the formation of galactic clusters would be explainable in terms of variations in the energy density of the universe cause by the non-uniformity of its contraction.
This scenario could be analytically verified by developing equations based on observing the thermodynamic "anisotropy" of our present universe and extrapolating them back in time to a point where the contraction stopped and its expansion began. This would give an observational basis for defining the "anisotropy" in found in the universe and Cosmic Background Radiation based on what came before the big bang.
This conclusion is supported by Marc Kamionkowski, Caltech’s Robinson Professor of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics in the Scientific Frontline article "Researchers Interpret Asymmetry in Early Universe" Tuesday, December 16, 2008. In that article he suggests that today’s computer technology give researchers the ability to extrapolate perturbations in a cyclical universe back in time to a point where the contraction reverses and its expansion begins. This, as the article points out would allow researchers the first glimpse at what came before the Big Bang"
This alternative explanation of the observed "anisotropy" of the Cosmic Background Radiation, if verifiable as Marc Kamionkowski suggests it should have more creditability than one derived from quantum fluctuations because it would be based on direct real time observations of our present environment instead of an unobservable environment of quantum fluctuation at the time of a "Big Bang"
Later Jeff
The "Shadows" of four spatial dimensions
Copyright 2009 Jeffrey O’Callaghan
(In a PDF format)
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John Anthony…
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