The grandeur and diversity of the surrounding world can amaze any imagination. All objects and objects surrounding a person, other people, various types of plants and animals, particles that can only be seen with a microscope, as well as incomprehensible star clusters: they are all united by the concept of "Universe".
Theories of the origin of the universe have been developed by man for a long time. Despite the absence of even the initial concept of religion or science, in the inquisitive minds of ancient people questions arose about the principles of the world order and about the position of a person in the space that surrounds him. It is difficult to count how many theories of the origin of the Universe exist today, some of them are being studied by leading world-famous scientists, others are frankly fantastic.
Cosmology and its subject
Modern cosmology - the science of the structure and development of the universe - considers the question of its origin as one of the most interesting and still insufficiently studied mysteries. The nature of the processes that contributed to the emergence of stars, galaxies, solar systems and planets, their development, the source of the emergence of the Universe, as well as its size and boundaries: all this is just a short list of issues studied by modern scientists.
The search for answers to the fundamental riddle about the formation of the world has led to the fact that today there are various theories of the origin, existence, development of the Universe. The excitement of specialists looking for answers, building and testing hypotheses is justified, because a reliable theory of the birth of the Universe will reveal to all mankind the probability of the existence of life in other systems and planets.
Theories of the origin of the Universe have the character of scientific concepts, individual hypotheses, religious teachings, philosophical ideas and myths. They are all conditionally divided into two main categories:
- Theories according to which the universe was created by a creator. In other words, their essence is that the process of creating the Universe was a conscious and spiritualized action, a manifestation of the will
- Theories of the origin of the Universe, built on the basis of scientific factors. Their postulates categorically reject both the existence of a creator and the possibility of a conscious creation of the world. Such hypotheses are often based on what is called the principle of mediocrity. They suggest the likelihood of life not only on our planet, but also on others.
Creationism - the theory of the creation of the world by the Creator
As the name implies, creationism (creation) is a religious theory of the origin of the universe. This worldview is based on the concept of the creation of the Universe, the planet and man by God or the Creator.
Idea long time was dominant until the end of the 19th century, when the process of accumulating knowledge in various fields of science (biology, astronomy, physics) accelerated, and evolutionary theory became widespread. Creationism has become a kind of reaction of Christians who adhere to conservative views on the discoveries being made. The dominant idea at that time only increased the contradictions that existed between religious and other theories.
What is the difference between scientific and religious theories
The main differences between theories of various categories lie primarily in the terms used by their adherents. So, in scientific hypotheses, instead of the creator - nature, and instead of creation - origin. Along with this, there are questions that are similarly covered by different theories or even completely duplicated.
Theories of the origin of the universe, belonging to opposite categories, date its very appearance in different ways. For example, according to the most common hypothesis (the Big Bang theory), the Universe was formed about 13 billion years ago.
In contrast, the religious theory of the origin of the universe gives completely different figures:
- According to Christian sources, the age of the universe created by God at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ was 3483-6984 years.
- Hinduism suggests that our world is approximately 155 trillion years old.
Kant and his cosmological model
Until the 20th century, most scientists were of the opinion that the universe was infinite. This quality they characterized time and space. In addition, in their opinion, the Universe was static and uniform.
The idea of the infinity of the universe in space was put forward by Isaac Newton. The development of this assumption was engaged in who developed the theory about the absence of time limits as well. Moving further, in theoretical assumptions, Kant extended the infinity of the universe to the number of possible biological products. This postulate meant that in the conditions of the ancient and vast world, without end and beginning, there can be an innumerable number of possible options, as a result of which the emergence of any biological species is real.
Based on the possible emergence of life forms, Darwin's theory was later developed. Observations of the starry sky and the results of astronomers' calculations confirmed Kant's cosmological model.
Einstein's reflections
At the beginning of the 20th century, Albert Einstein published his own model of the universe. According to his theory of relativity, two opposite processes take place simultaneously in the Universe: expansion and contraction. However, he agreed with the opinion of most scientists about the stationarity of the Universe, so he introduced the concept of the cosmic repulsive force. Its effect is designed to balance the attraction of the stars and stop the process of movement of all celestial bodies to keep the universe static.
The model of the Universe - according to Einstein - has a certain size, but there are no boundaries. Such a combination is feasible only when the space is curved in such a way as it occurs in a sphere.
The characteristics of the space of such a model are:
- Three-dimensionality.
- Closing yourself.
- Homogeneity (lack of center and edge), in which galaxies are evenly distributed.
A. A. Fridman: The Universe is expanding
The creator of the revolutionary expanding model of the Universe, A. A. Fridman (USSR) built his theory on the basis of equations characterizing general theory relativity. True, the generally accepted opinion in the scientific world of that time was the static nature of our world, therefore, due attention was not paid to his work.
A few years later, astronomer Edwin Hubble made a discovery that confirmed Friedman's ideas. The removal of galaxies from the nearby Milky Way has been discovered. At the same time, the fact that the speed of their movement is proportional to the distance between them and our galaxy has become irrefutable.
This discovery explains the constant "retreat" of stars and galaxies in relation to each other, which leads to the conclusion about the expansion of the universe.
Ultimately, Friedman's conclusions were recognized by Einstein, who subsequently mentioned the merits of the Soviet scientist as the founder of the hypothesis of the expansion of the Universe.
It cannot be said that there are contradictions between this theory and the general theory of relativity, however, with the expansion of the Universe, there must have been an initial impulse that provoked the scattering of stars. By analogy with the explosion, the idea was called " Big Bang».
Stephen Hawking and the Anthropic Principle
The result of the calculations and discoveries of Stephen Hawking was the anthropocentric theory of the origin of the universe. Its creator claims that the existence of a planet so well prepared for human life cannot be accidental.
Stephen Hawking's theory of the origin of the Universe also provides for the gradual evaporation of black holes, their loss of energy and the emission of Hawking radiation.
As a result of the search for evidence, more than 40 characteristics were identified and verified, the observance of which is necessary for the development of civilization. The American astrophysicist Hugh Ross estimated the probability of such an unintentional coincidence. The result was the number 10 -53.
Our universe contains a trillion galaxies, each with 100 billion stars. According to scientists' calculations, the total number of planets should be 10 20. This figure is 33 orders of magnitude smaller than the previously calculated one. Consequently, none of the planets in all galaxies can combine conditions that would be suitable for the spontaneous emergence of life.
The big bang theory: the emergence of the universe from a negligible particle
Scientists who support the big bang theory share the hypothesis that the universe is the result of a grand bang. The main postulate of the theory is the assertion that before this event, all the elements of the current Universe were enclosed in a particle that had microscopic dimensions. While inside it, the elements were characterized by a singular state in which indicators such as temperature, density and pressure could not be measured. They are endless. Matter and energy in this state are not affected by the laws of physics.
What happened 15 billion years ago is called the instability that arose inside the particle. The scattered smallest elements laid the foundation for the world that we know today.
In the beginning, the Universe was a nebula formed by tiny particles (smaller than an atom). Then, when combined, they formed atoms, which served as the basis of stellar galaxies. Answering questions about what happened before the explosion, as well as what caused it, are the most important tasks of this theory of the origin of the Universe.
The table schematically depicts the stages of the formation of the universe after the big bang.
| State of the Universe | time axis | Estimated temperature |
| Expansion (inflation) | From 10 -45 to 10 -37 seconds | More than 10 26 K |
| Quarks and electrons appear | 10 -6 s | More than 10 13 K |
| Protons and neutrons are formed | 10 -5 s | 10 12 K |
| Helium, deuterium and lithium nuclei are formed | From 10 -4 s to 3 min | From 10 11 to 10 9 K |
| Atoms formed | 400 thousand years | 4000 K |
| The gas cloud continues to expand | 15 Ma | 300 K |
| The first stars and galaxies are born | 1 billion years | 20 K |
| Explosions of stars provoke the formation of heavy nuclei | 3 billion years | 10 K |
| Star birth process stops | 10-15 billion years | 3 K |
| The energy of all the stars is depleted | 10 14 years old | 10 -2 K |
| Black holes are depleted and elementary particles are born | 10 40 years | -20 K |
| Evaporation of all black holes is completed | 10 100 years | From 10 -60 to 10 -40 K |
As follows from the above data, the universe continues to expand and cool.
The constant increase in the distance between galaxies is the main postulate: what distinguishes the big bang theory. The emergence of the universe in this way can be confirmed by the evidence found. There are also grounds for its refutation.
Problems of the theory
Given that the big bang theory is not proven in practice, it is not surprising that there are several questions that it is not able to answer:
- Singularity. This word denotes the state of the universe, compressed to a single point. The problem of the big bang theory is the impossibility of describing the processes occurring in matter and space in such a state. The general law of relativity does not apply here, so it is impossible to make a mathematical description and equations for modeling.
The fundamental impossibility of obtaining an answer to the question about the initial state of the Universe discredits the theory from the very beginning. Her non-fiction expositions tend to gloss over or only mention this complexity in passing. However, for scientists working to lay a mathematical foundation for the big bang theory, this difficulty is recognized as a major obstacle. - Astronomy. In this area, the big bang theory is faced with the fact that it cannot describe the process of the origin of galaxies. Based on modern versions of theories, it is possible to predict how a homogeneous cloud of gas appears. At the same time, its density by now should be about one atom per cubic meter. To get something more, one cannot do without adjusting the initial state of the Universe. The lack of information and practical experience in this area become serious obstacles to further modeling.
There is also a discrepancy between the estimated mass of our galaxy and the data obtained when studying the speed of its attraction to Judging by everything, the weight of our galaxy is ten times greater than previously thought.
Cosmology and quantum physics
Today there are no cosmological theories that do not rely on quantum mechanics. After all, it deals with the description of the behavior of atomic and quantum physics. The difference between quantum physics and classical physics (expounded by Newton) is that the second one observes and describes material objects, while the first assumes an exclusively mathematical description of the observation and measurement itself. For quantum physics, material values do not represent the subject of research, here the observer himself acts as part of the situation under study.
Based on these features, quantum mechanics has difficulty describing the universe, because the observer is part of the universe. However, speaking of the emergence of the universe, it is impossible to imagine outsiders. Attempts to develop a model without the participation of an outside observer were crowned with the quantum theory of the origin of the Universe by J. Wheeler.
Its essence is that at each moment of time there is a splitting of the Universe and the formation of an infinite number of copies. As a result, each of the parallel Universes can be observed, and observers can see all quantum alternatives. At the same time, the original and new worlds are real.
inflation model
The main task that the theory of inflation is called upon to solve is the search for an answer to questions that have remained unexplored by the big bang theory and the expansion theory. Namely:
- Why is the universe expanding?
- What is the big bang?
To this end, the inflationary theory of the origin of the universe provides for the extrapolation of the expansion to the zero point in time, the conclusion of the entire mass of the universe at one point and the formation of a cosmological singularity, which is often referred to as the big bang.
The irrelevance of the general theory of relativity, which cannot be applied at this moment, becomes obvious. As a result, only theoretical methods, calculations and conclusions can be applied to develop a more general theory (or "new physics") and solve the problem of the cosmological singularity.
New alternative theories
Despite the success of the cosmic inflation model, there are scientists who oppose it, calling it untenable. Their main argument is criticism of the solutions proposed by the theory. Opponents argue that the resulting solutions leave some details omitted, in other words, instead of solving the problem of initial values, the theory only skillfully drapes them.
An alternative is a few exotic theories, the idea of which is based on the formation of initial values before the big bang. New theories of the origin of the universe can be briefly described as follows:
- String theory. Its adherents propose, in addition to the usual four dimensions of space and time, to introduce additional dimensions. They could play a role in the early stages of the universe, and at the moment be in a compactified state. Answering the question about the reason for their compactification, scientists offer an answer saying that the property of superstrings is T-duality. Therefore, the strings are "wound" on additional dimensions and their size is limited.
- Brane theory. It is also called M-theory. In accordance with its postulates, at the beginning of the formation of the Universe, there is a cold static five-dimensional space-time. Four of them (spatial) have restrictions, or walls - three-branes. Our space is one of the walls, and the second is hidden. The third three-brane is located in four-dimensional space, it is limited by two boundary branes. The theory considers the collision of a third brane with ours and the release a large number energy. It is these conditions that become favorable for the emergence of a big bang.
- Cyclic theories deny the uniqueness of the big bang, arguing that the universe goes from one state to another. The problem with such theories is the increase in entropy, according to the second law of thermodynamics. Consequently, the duration of the previous cycles was shorter, and the temperature of the substance was significantly higher than during the big bang. The probability of this is extremely small.
No matter how many theories of the origin of the universe exist, only two of them have stood the test of time and overcome the problem of ever-increasing entropy. They were developed by scientists Steinhardt-Turok and Baum-Frampton.
These relatively new theories of the origin of the universe were put forward in the 80s of the last century. They have many followers who develop models based on it, search for evidence of reliability and work to eliminate contradictions.
String theory
One of the most popular among the theory of the origin of the Universe - Before proceeding to the description of its idea, it is necessary to understand the concepts of one of the closest competitors, the standard model. It assumes that matter and interactions can be described as a certain set of particles, divided into several groups:
- Quarks.
- Leptons.
- Bosons.
These particles are, in fact, the building blocks of the universe, since they are so small that they cannot be divided into components.
A distinctive feature of string theory is the assertion that such bricks are not particles, but ultramicroscopic strings that oscillate. In this case, oscillating at different frequencies, the strings become analogues of various particles described in the standard model.
To understand the theory, one must realize that strings are not any matter, they are energy. Therefore, string theory concludes that all the elements of the universe are composed of energy.
Fire is a good analogy. When looking at it, one gets the impression of its materiality, but it cannot be touched.
Cosmology for schoolchildren
Theories of the origin of the Universe are briefly studied in schools in astronomy classes. Students are taught the basic theories about how our world was formed, what is happening to it now and how it will develop in the future.
The purpose of the lessons is to familiarize children with the nature of the formation of elementary particles, chemical elements and celestial bodies. Theories of the origin of the universe for children are reduced to a presentation of the big bang theory. Teachers use visual material: slides, tables, posters, illustrations. Their main task is to awaken children's interest in the world that surrounds them.
« For me, life is too short to worry about things beyond my control and maybe even impossible. Here they ask: “What if the Earth is swallowed up by a black hole, or there is a distortion of space-time - is this a reason for excitement?” My answer is no, because we will only know about it when it reaches our ... our place in space-time. We get kicks when nature decides it's time: whether it's the speed of sound, the speed of light, the speed of electrical impulses, we will always be victims of a time delay between the information around us and our ability to receive it.»
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Time is an amazing thing. It gives us the past, present and future. Because of time, everything that surrounds us has an age. For example, the age of the Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years. Approximately the same number of years ago, the closest star to us, the Sun, also lit up. If this figure seems breathtaking to you, do not forget that long before the formation of our native solar system The galaxy we live in is the Milky Way. According to scientists' latest estimates, the age of the Milky Way is 13.6 billion years. But we know for sure that galaxies also have a past, and space is simply huge, so we need to look even further. And this reflection inevitably leads us to the moment when it all began - the Big Bang.
Einstein and the Universe
The perception of the surrounding world by people has always been ambiguous. Someone still does not believe in the existence of a huge Universe around us, someone considers the Earth to be flat. Before the scientific breakthrough in the 20th century, there were only a couple of versions of the origin of the world. Adherents of religious views believed in divine intervention and the creation of a higher mind, those who disagreed were sometimes burned. There was another side that believed that the world around us, as well as the Universe, is infinite.
For many people, everything changed when Albert Einstein gave a talk in 1917, presenting to the general public the work of his life - the General Theory of Relativity. The genius of the 20th century connected space-time with the matter of space with the help of the equations he derived. As a result, it turned out that the Universe is finite, unchanged in size and has the shape of a regular cylinder.
At the dawn of a technical breakthrough, no one could refute Einstein's words, because his theory was too complicated even for the greatest minds of the early 20th century. Since there were no other options, the model of a cylindrical stationary universe was accepted by the scientific community as a generally accepted model of our world. However, she could live only a few years. After the physicists were able to recover from the scientific works of Einstein and began to sort them out on the shelves, in parallel with this, adjustments began to be made to the theory of relativity and the specific calculations of the German scientist.
In 1922, the Russian mathematician Alexander Fridman suddenly published an article in the journal Izvestiya Fiziki, in which he states that Einstein was wrong and our Universe is not stationary. Friedman explains that the statements of the German scientist regarding the invariance of the radius of curvature of space are delusions, in fact, the radius changes with respect to time. Accordingly, the universe must expand.
Moreover, here Friedman gave his assumptions about how exactly the Universe can expand. There were three models in total: a pulsating Universe (the assumption that the Universe expands and contracts with a certain periodicity in time); the expanding Universe from the mass and the third model - the expansion from the point. Since at that time there were no other models, with the exception of divine intervention, physicists quickly took note of all three Friedman models and began to develop them in their own direction.
The work of the Russian mathematician slightly stung Einstein, and in the same year he published an article in which he expressed his comments on the work of Friedman. In it, a German physicist tries to prove the correctness of his calculations. It turned out rather unconvincingly, and when the pain from the blow to self-esteem subsided a little, Einstein published another note in the journal Izvestiya Fiziki, in which he said:
« In a previous note, I criticized the above work. However, my criticism, as I saw from Fridman's letter communicated to me by Mr. Krutkov, was based on an error in calculations. I think Friedman's results are correct and shed new light.».
Scientists had to admit that all three Friedman models of the appearance and existence of our Universe are absolutely logical and have the right to life. All three are explained by understandable mathematical calculations and leave no questions. Except for one thing: why would the Universe begin to expand?
The theory that changed the world
The statements of Einstein and Friedman led the scientific community to seriously question the origin of the universe. Thanks to the general theory of relativity, there was a chance to shed light on our past, and physicists did not fail to take advantage of this. One of the scientists who tried to present a model of our world was the astrophysicist Georges Lemaitre from Belgium. It is noteworthy that Lemaitre was a Catholic priest, but at the same time he was engaged in mathematics and physics, which is real nonsense for our time.
Georges Lemaitre became interested in Einstein's equations, and with their help he was able to calculate that our Universe appeared as a result of the decay of some kind of superparticle, which was out of space and time before the fission began, which can actually be considered an explosion. At the same time, physicists note that Lemaitre was the first to shed light on the birth of the Universe.
The theory of the exploded superatom suited not only scientists, but also the clergy, who were very dissatisfied with modern scientific discoveries, for which they had to come up with new interpretations of the Bible. The Big Bang did not come into significant conflict with religion, perhaps this was influenced by the upbringing of Lemaitre himself, who devoted his life not only to science, but also to the service of God.
On November 22, 1951, Pope Pius XII made a statement that the Big Bang Theory does not conflict with the Bible and Catholic dogma about the origin of the world. Orthodox clergy also said they were positive about this theory. This theory was also relatively neutrally received by adherents of other religions, some of them even said that in their scriptures There are references to the Big Bang.
However, despite the fact that the Big Bang Theory is currently the generally accepted cosmological model, it has led many scientists into a dead end. On the one hand, the explosion of a superparticle fit perfectly into the logic of modern physics, but on the other hand, as a result of such an explosion, mainly only heavy metals, in particular iron. But, as it turned out, the Universe consists mainly of ultralight gases - hydrogen and helium. Something did not fit, so physicists continued to work on the theory of the origin of the world.
Initially, the term "Big Bang" did not exist. Lemaitre and other physicists offered only the boring name "dynamic evolutionary model", which caused students to yawn. Only in 1949, at one of his lectures, did the British astronomer and cosmologist Freud Hoyle say:
“This theory is based on the assumption that the universe arose in the process of a single powerful explosion and therefore exists only for a finite time ... This idea of the Big Bang seems to me completely unsatisfactory”.
Since then, this term has become widely used in scientific circles and the general public's idea of \u200b\u200bthe structure of the Universe.
Where did hydrogen and helium come from?
The presence of light elements has baffled physicists, and many Big Bang Theorists set out to find their source. For many years they were not able to achieve much success, until in 1948 the brilliant scientist Georgy Gamov from Leningrad was finally able to identify this source. Gamow was one of Friedman's students, so he gladly took up the development of the theory of his teacher.
Gamow tried to imagine the life of the Universe in the opposite direction, and rewound time until the moment when it had just begun to expand. By that time, as is known, humanity had already discovered the principles of thermonuclear fusion, so the Friedmann-Lemaitre theory gained the right to life. When the universe was very small, it was very hot, according to the laws of physics.
According to Gamow, just a second after the Big Bang, the space of the new Universe was filled with elementary particles that began to interact with each other. As a result of this, helium thermonuclear fusion began, which Ralph Asher Alfer, a mathematician from Odessa, was able to calculate for Gamow. According to Alfer's calculations, already five minutes after the Big Bang, the Universe was filled with helium to such an extent that even staunch opponents of the Big Bang Theory will have to come to terms and accept this model as the main one in cosmology. With his research, Gamow not only opened up new ways of studying the Universe, but also resurrected Lemaitre's theory.
Despite the stereotypes about scientists, they cannot be denied romanticism. Gamow published his research on the theory of the Superhot Universe at the time of the Big Bang in 1948 in his work The Origin of the Chemical Elements. As fellow assistants, he indicated not only Ralph Asher Alfer, but also Hans Bethe, an American astrophysicist and future laureate Nobel Prize. On the cover of the book it turned out: Alfer, Bethe, Gamow. Doesn't it remind you of anything?
However, despite the fact that Lemaitre's works received a second life, physicists still could not answer the most exciting question: what happened before the Big Bang?
Attempts to resurrect Einstein's stationary Universe
Not all scientists agreed with the Friedmann-Lemaitre theory, but despite this, they had to teach the generally accepted cosmological model at universities. For example, astronomer Fred Hoyle, who himself coined the term "Big Bang", actually believed that there was no explosion, and devoted his life to trying to prove it.
Hoyle became one of those scientists who in our time offer an alternative view of modern world. Most physicists are rather cool about the statements of such people, but this does not bother them at all.
To shame Gamow and his justification of the Big Bang Theory, Hoyle, together with like-minded people, decided to develop their own model of the origin of the Universe. As a basis, they took Einstein's proposals that the Universe is stationary, and made some adjustments that offer alternative reasons for the expansion of the Universe.
If adherents of the Lemaitre-Friedmann theory believed that the Universe arose from a single superdense point with an infinitely small radius, then Hoyle suggested that matter is constantly formed from points that are between galaxies moving away from each other. In the first case, the whole Universe was formed from one particle, with its infinite number of stars and galaxies. In another case, one point gives as much matter as is enough to produce just one galaxy.
The inconsistency of Hoyle's theory is that he was never able to explain where the very substance comes from, which continues to create galaxies in which there are hundreds of billions of stars. In fact, Fred Hoyle suggested that everyone believe that the structure of the universe appears out of nowhere. Despite the fact that many physicists tried to find a solution to Hoyle's theory, no one managed to do this, and after a couple of decades this proposal lost its relevance.
Questions without answers
In fact, the Big Bang Theory also does not give us answers to many questions. For example, in the mind of an ordinary person, the fact that all the matter around us was once compressed into a single point of singularity, which is much smaller than an atom, cannot fit in. And how did it happen that this superparticle heated up to such an extent that the explosion reaction started.
Until the middle of the 20th century, the theory of the expanding universe was never confirmed experimentally, therefore it was not widely used in educational institutions. Everything changed in 1964, when two American astrophysicists - Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson - did not decide to study the radio signals of the starry sky.
Scanning the radiation of celestial bodies, namely Cassiopeia A (one of the most powerful sources of radio emission in the starry sky), scientists noticed some kind of extraneous noise that constantly interfered with recording accurate radiation data. Wherever they pointed their antenna, no matter what time of day they began their research, this characteristic and constant noise always pursued them. Angry to a certain extent, Penzias and Wilson decided to study the source of this noise and unexpectedly made a discovery that changed the world. They discovered the relic radiation, which is an echo of that same Big Bang.
Our universe cools much more slowly than a cup of hot tea, and the CMB indicates that the matter around us was once very hot and is now cooling as the universe expands. Thus, all theories related to the cold Universe were left out, and the Big Bang Theory was finally adopted.
In his writings, Georgy Gamow suggested that it would be possible to detect photons in space that have existed since the Big Bang, only more advanced technical equipment is needed. Relic radiation confirmed all his assumptions about the existence of the universe. Also, with its help, it was possible to establish that the age of our Universe is approximately 14 billion years.
As always, with practical proof any theory, many alternative opinions immediately arise. Some physicists scoffed at the discovery of the CMB as evidence of the Big Bang. Despite the fact that Penzias and Wilson won the Nobel Prize for their historic discovery, many disagreed with their research.
The main arguments in favor of the inconsistency of the expansion of the Universe were discrepancies and logical errors. For example, the explosion uniformly accelerated all the galaxies in space, but instead of moving away from us, the Andromeda galaxy is slowly but surely approaching Milky Way. Scientists suggest that these two galaxies will collide with each other in just some 4 billion years. Unfortunately, humanity is still too young to answer this and other questions.
Theory of equilibrium
In our time, physicists offer various models for the existence of the universe. Many of them do not withstand even simple criticism, while others receive the right to life.
At the end of the 20th century, American astrophysicist Edward Tryon, together with his colleague from Australia, Warren Kerry, proposed in principle new model universe, while doing so independently. Scientists based their research on the assumption that everything in the universe is balanced. Mass destroys energy, and vice versa. This principle became known as the principle of the Zero Universe. Within this universe, new matter emerges at singular points between galaxies, where the attraction and repulsion of matter is balanced.
The theory of the Zero Universe was not smashed to smithereens because after some time scientists were able to discover the existence of dark matter - a mysterious substance that makes up almost 27% of our Universe. Another 68.3% of the universe is more mysterious and mysterious dark energy.
It is thanks to the gravitational effects of dark energy that the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe is attributed. By the way, the presence of dark energy in space was predicted by Einstein himself, who saw that something did not converge in his equations, the Universe could not be made stationary. Therefore, he introduced a cosmological constant into the equations - the Lambda term, for which he later repeatedly blamed and hated himself.
It so happened that the space in the Universe, empty in theory, is nevertheless filled with a certain special field, which drives the Einstein model. In a sober mind and according to the logic of those times, the existence of such a field was simply impossible, but in fact the German physicist simply did not know how to describe dark energy.
***
Perhaps we will never know how and from what our universe arose. It will be even more difficult to establish what was before its existence. People tend to be afraid of what they cannot explain, so it is possible that until the end of time humanity will also believe in the divine influence on the creation of the world around us.
The Big Bang belongs to the category of theories that try to fully trace the history of the birth of the Universe, to determine the initial, current and final processes in its life.
Was there something before the universe appeared? This cornerstone, almost metaphysical question is being asked by scientists to this day. The emergence and evolution of the universe has always been and remains the subject of heated debate, incredible hypotheses and mutually exclusive theories. According to the church interpretation, the main versions of the origin of everything that surrounds us assumed divine intervention, and scientific world supported Aristotle's hypothesis about the static nature of the universe. The latter model was adhered to by Newton, who defended the infinity and constancy of the Universe, and by Kant, who developed this theory in his writings. In 1929, the American astronomer and cosmologist Edwin Hubble radically changed the way scientists view the world.
He not only discovered the presence of numerous galaxies, but also the expansion of the Universe - a continuous isotropic increase in the size of outer space, which began at the moment of the Big Bang.
To whom do we owe the discovery of the Big Bang?
Albert Einstein's work on the theory of relativity and his gravitational equations allowed de Sitter to create a cosmological model of the universe. Further research was tied to this model. In 1923, Weyl suggested that matter placed in outer space must expand. The work of the outstanding mathematician and physicist A. A. Fridman is of great importance in the development of this theory. Back in 1922, he allowed the expansion of the Universe and made reasonable conclusions that the beginning of all matter was in one infinitely dense point, and the development of everything was given by the Big Bang. In 1929, Hubble published his papers explaining the subordination of radial velocity to distance, later this work became known as "Hubble's law."
G. A. Gamov, relying on Friedman's theory of the Big Bang, developed the idea of a high temperature of the initial substance. He also suggested the presence of cosmic radiation, which did not disappear with the expansion and cooling of the world. The scientist made preliminary calculations of the possible temperature of the residual radiation. The value he assumed was in the range of 1-10 K. By 1950, Gamow made more accurate calculations and announced the result at 3 K. In 1964, radio astronomers from America, improving the antenna by eliminating all possible signals, determined the parameters of cosmic radiation. Its temperature turned out to be 3 K. This information became the most important confirmation of Gamow's work and the existence of cosmic microwave background radiation. Subsequent measurements of the cosmic background, carried out in outer space, finally proved the correctness of the scientist's calculations. You can get acquainted with the relict radiation map at.
Modern ideas about the Big Bang theory: how did it happen?
The theory of the Big Bang has become one of the models that comprehensively explain the emergence and development of the Universe known to us. According to the version widely accepted today, there was originally a cosmological singularity - a state of infinite density and temperature. Physicists have developed theoretical background the birth of the Universe from a point that had an extraordinary degree of density and temperature. After the emergence of the Big Bang, the space and matter of the Cosmos began an ongoing process of expansion and stable cooling. According to recent studies, the beginning of the universe was laid at least 13.7 billion years ago.
Starting periods in the formation of the Universe
The first moment, the reconstruction of which is allowed by physical theories, is the Planck epoch, the formation of which became possible 10-43 seconds after the Big Bang. The temperature of matter reached 10*32 K, and its density was 10*93 g/cm3. During this period, gravity gained independence, separating from the fundamental interactions. The incessant expansion and decrease in temperature caused a phase transition of elementary particles.
The next period, characterized by exponential expansion of the Universe, came in another 10-35 seconds. It was called "Cosmic inflation". There was an abrupt expansion, many times greater than usual. This period gave an answer to the question, why is the temperature at different points of the Universe the same? After the Big Bang, the matter did not immediately spread through the Universe, for another 10-35 seconds it was quite compact and thermal equilibrium was established in it, which was not disturbed during inflationary expansion. The period provided the base material, quark-gluon plasma, which was used to form protons and neutrons. This process took place after a further decrease in temperature, it is called "baryogenesis". The origin of matter was accompanied by the simultaneous appearance of antimatter. Two antagonistic substances annihilated, becoming radiation, but the number of ordinary particles prevailed, which allowed the universe to arise.
The next phase transition, which occurred after the decrease in temperature, led to the emergence of elementary particles known to us. The era of "nucleosynthesis" that followed this was marked by the union of protons into light isotopes. The first formed nuclei had a short lifespan, they decayed during inevitable collisions with other particles. More stable elements arose already after three minutes after the creation of the world.
The next significant milestone was the dominance of gravity over other available forces. After 380 thousand years from the time of the Big Bang, the hydrogen atom appeared. The increase in the influence of gravity served as the end of the initial period of the formation of the Universe and gave rise to the process of the emergence of the first star systems.
Even after almost 14 billion years, the cosmic microwave background still remains. Its existence in combination with redshift is given as an argument in support of the validity of the Big Bang theory.
Cosmological singularity
If, using the general theory of relativity and the fact of the continuous expansion of the Universe, we return to the beginning of time, then the dimensions of the universe will be equal to zero. The initial moment or science cannot accurately describe using physical knowledge. The applied equations are not suitable for such a small object. A symbiosis is needed that can combine quantum mechanics and general relativity, but, unfortunately, it has not yet been created.
Evolution of the Universe: what awaits it in the future?
Scientists are considering two possible scenarios: the expansion of the universe will never end, or it will reach a critical point and the reverse process will begin - compression. This fundamental choice depends on the value of the average density of the substance in its composition. If the calculated value is less than the critical value, the forecast is favorable, if it is greater, then the world will return to a singular state. Scientists currently do not know the exact value of the described parameter, so the question of the future of the universe is up in the air.
The Relation of Religion to the Big Bang Theory
The main religions of mankind: Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Islam, in their own way support this model of the creation of the world. Liberal representatives of these religious denominations agree with the theory of the emergence of the universe as a result of some inexplicable interference, defined as the Big Bang.
The world-famous name of the theory - "Big Bang" - was unwittingly presented by the opponent of the version of the expansion of the Universe by Hoyle. He considered such an idea "completely unsatisfactory". After the publication of his thematic lectures, the interesting term was immediately picked up by the public.
The causes of the Big Bang are not known for certain. According to one of the many versions, owned by A. Yu. Glushko, the original substance compressed into a point was a black hyper-hole, and the explosion was caused by the contact of two such objects consisting of particles and antiparticles. During annihilation, matter partially survived and gave rise to our Universe.
Engineers Penzias and Wilson, who discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation, received the Nobel Prize in Physics.
The CMB temperature readings were initially very high. After several million years, this parameter turned out to be within the limits that ensure the origin of life. But by this period, only a small number of planets had managed to form.
Astronomical observations and research help to find answers to the most important questions for mankind: "How did everything appear, and what awaits us in the future?". Despite the fact that not all problems have been solved, and the root cause of the emergence of the Universe does not have a strict and harmonious explanation, the Big Bang theory has found a sufficient number of confirmations that make it the main and acceptable model for the emergence of the universe.
The spectacle of the night starry sky, strewn with stars, fascinates any person whose soul has not yet become lazy and completely stale. The mysterious depth of Eternity opens up before the astonished human gaze, causing thoughts about the original, about where it all began...
The Big Bang and the Origin of the Universe
If, out of curiosity, we pick up a reference book or some popular science manual, we will certainly stumble upon one of the versions of the theory of the origin of the Universe - the so-called big bang theory. Briefly, this theory can be stated as follows: initially, all matter was compressed into one "point", which had an unusually high temperature, and then this "point" exploded with tremendous force. As a result of the explosion, atoms, substances, planets, stars, galaxies and, finally, life were gradually formed from a super-hot cloud of subatomic particles gradually expanding in all directions. At the same time, the Expansion of the Universe continues, and it is not known how long it will continue: perhaps someday it will reach its boundaries.There is another theory of the origin of the universe. According to it, the origin of the Universe, the entire universe, life and man is a reasonable creative act carried out by God, the creator and omnipotent, the nature of which is incomprehensible to the human mind. "Convinced" materialists are usually inclined to ridicule this theory, but since half of humanity believes in it in one form or another, we have no right to pass it over in silence.
explaining origin of the universe and man from a mechanistic position, interpreting the Universe as a product of matter, whose development is subject to the objective laws of nature, supporters of rationalism, as a rule, deny non-physical factors, especially when it comes to the existence of some kind of Universal or Cosmic mind, since this is "unscientific". Scientific same should be considered that which can be described with the help of mathematical formulas.
One of the biggest problems facing the proponents of the big bang theory is precisely that none of the scenarios they propose for the origin of the universe can be described mathematically or physically. According to basic theories big bang, the initial state of the Universe was a point of infinitely small size with infinitely high density and infinitely high temperature. However, such a state goes beyond the limits of mathematical logic and cannot be described formally. So in reality, nothing definite can be said about the initial state of the Universe, and the calculations here fail. Therefore, this state has received the name "phenomenon" among scientists.Since this barrier has not yet been overcome, in popular science publications for the general public, the topic of "phenomenon" is usually omitted altogether, and in specialized scientific publications and publications whose authors are trying to somehow cope with this mathematical problem, about the "phenomenon" "is spoken of as a thing unacceptable with scientific point vision. Stephen Hawking, professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge, and J.F.R. Ellis, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cape Town, in his book "The Long Scale of Space-Time Structure" states: beyond the known laws of physics." Then we have to admit that in the name of substantiating the "phenomenon", this cornerstone big bang theory, it is necessary to admit the possibility of using research methods that go beyond the scope of modern physics.
The "phenomenon", like any other starting point of the "beginning of the universe", which includes something that cannot be described by scientific categories, remains an open question. However, the following question arises: where did the "phenomenon" itself come from, how did it form? After all, the problem of "phenomenon" is only part of a much larger problem, the problem of the very source of the initial state of the Universe. In other words, if the Universe was originally compressed into a point, then what brought it to this state? And even if we abandon the “phenomenon” that causes theoretical difficulties, the question still remains: how did the Universe form?
In an attempt to circumvent this difficulty, some scientists propose the so-called "pulsating universe" theory. In their opinion, the Universe is infinite, over and over again, it shrinks to a point, then it expands to some boundaries. Such a universe has neither beginning nor end, there is only a cycle of expansion and a cycle of contraction. At the same time, the authors of the hypothesis claim that the Universe has always existed, thereby seemingly completely removing the question of the "beginning of the world." But the fact is that no one has yet presented a satisfactory explanation of the mechanism of pulsation. Why does the Universe pulsate? What are the reasons for it? Physicist Steven Weinberg in his book "The First Three Minutes" indicates that with each next pulsation in the Universe, the ratio of the number of photons to the number of nucleons must inevitably increase, which leads to the extinction of new pulsations. Weinberg concludes that in this way the number of cycles of pulsation of the Universe is finite, which means that at some point they must stop. Therefore, the "pulsating Universe" has an end, and therefore has a beginning...
And again we run into the problem of the beginning. Einstein's general theory of relativity creates additional trouble. The main problem with this theory is that it does not consider time as we know it. In Einstein's theory, time and space are combined into a four-dimensional space-time continuum. It is impossible for him to describe an object as occupying a certain place at a certain time. The relativistic description of an object defines its spatial and temporal position as a single whole, stretched from the beginning to the end of the object's existence. For example, a person would be depicted as a single whole along the entire path of his development from the embryo to the corpse. Such constructions are called "space-time worms".
But if we are "space-time worms", then we are only an ordinary form of matter. That the man sentient being, is not taken into account. By defining man as a "worm", the theory of relativity does not take into account our individual perception of the past, present and future, but considers a number of separate cases, united by spatio-temporal existence. In fact, we know that we exist only in today, while the past exists only in our memory, and the future - in our imagination. And this means that all concepts of the "beginning of the Universe", built on the theory of relativity, do not take into account the perception of time by human consciousness. However, time itself is still little studied.
Analyzing alternative, non-mechanistic concepts of the origin of the Universe, John Gribbin in his book "White Gods" emphasizes that in last years there is a "series of ups and downs of the creative imagination of thinkers whom today we no longer call either prophets or clairvoyants." One of such creative upsurges was the concept of "white holes", or quasars, which "spit out" entire galaxies in the flow of primary matter. Another hypothesis discussed in cosmology is the idea of so-called space-time tunnels, so-called "space channels". This idea was first expressed in 1962 by physicist John Wheeler in the book "Geometrodynamics", in which the researcher formulated the possibility of extra-spatial, extraordinarily fast intergalactic travel, which, if moving at the speed of light, would take millions of years. Some versions of the concept of "supra-dimensional channels" consider the possibility of using them to travel to the past and future, as well as to other universes and dimensions.
God and the Big Bang
As you can see, the "big bang" theory is under attack from all sides, which causes legitimate displeasure among orthodox scientists. At the same time, scientific publications more and more often come across indirect or direct recognition of the existence of supernatural forces beyond the control of science. There is a growing number of scientists, including major mathematicians and theoretical physicists, who are convinced of the existence of God or a higher Mind. Such scientists include, for example, Nobel Prize winners George Wylde and William McCree. The famous Soviet scientist, doctor of sciences, physicist and mathematician O.V. Tupitsyn was the first Russian scientist who managed to mathematically prove that the Universe, and with it man, were created by a Mind that is immeasurably more powerful than ours, that is, by God.One cannot argue, writes O. V. Tupitsyn in his Notebooks, that life, including intelligent life, is always a strictly ordered process. Life is based on order, a system of laws by which matter moves. Death is, on the contrary, disorder, chaos and, as a consequence, the destruction of matter. No order is possible without influence from the outside, moreover, the influence of a reasonable and purposeful one - the process of destruction immediately begins, which means death. Without understanding this, and therefore without recognizing the idea of God, science will never be destined to discover the root cause of the Universe that arose from pra-matter as a result of strictly ordered processes or, as physics calls them, fundamental laws. Fundamental - this means basic and unchanging, without which the existence of the world would be generally impossible.
However, it is very difficult for a modern person, especially one brought up on atheism, to include God in the system of his worldview - due to undeveloped intuition and a complete lack of a concept of God. Well, then, you have to believe in big Bang...
The Big Bang theory has become almost as widely accepted a cosmological model as the rotation of the Earth around the Sun. According to the theory, about 14 billion years ago, spontaneous fluctuations in the absolute void led to the emergence of the universe. Something comparable in size to a subatomic particle expanded to an unimaginable size in a fraction of a second. But in this theory there are many problems over which physicists are struggling, putting forward more and more new hypotheses.
What's Wrong with the Big Bang Theory
It follows from the theory that all the planets and stars were formed from the dust scattered through space as a result of the explosion. But what preceded it is unclear: here our mathematical model of space-time stops working. The universe arose from an initial singular state, to which modern physics cannot be applied. The theory also does not consider the causes of the occurrence of the singularity or the matter and energy for its occurrence. It is believed that the answer to the question of the existence and origin of the initial singularity will be given by the theory of quantum gravity.
Most cosmological models predict that the full universe is much larger than the observable part - a spherical region with a diameter of about 90 billion light years. We see only that part of the Universe, the light from which managed to reach the Earth in 13.8 billion years. But telescopes are getting better, we are discovering more and more distant objects, and so far there is no reason to believe that this process will stop.
Since the Big Bang, the universe has been expanding at an accelerating rate. The hardest riddle modern physics - the question of what causes acceleration. According to the working hypothesis, the Universe contains an invisible component called "dark energy". The Big Bang theory does not explain whether the Universe will expand indefinitely, and if so, what this will lead to - to its disappearance or something else.
Although Newtonian mechanics was supplanted by relativistic physics, it cannot be called wrong. However, the perception of the world and the models for describing the universe have completely changed. The Big Bang Theory predicted a number of things that were not known before. Thus, if another theory takes its place, then it should be similar and expand the understanding of the world.
We will focus on the most interesting theories describing alternative Big Bang models.
The universe is like a mirage of a black hole
The universe arose due to the collapse of a star in a four-dimensional universe, scientists from the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics believe. The results of their research were published in Scientific American. Niayesh Afshordi, Robert Mann and Razi Pourhasan say that our three-dimensional universe became like a "holographic mirage" when a four-dimensional star collapsed. Unlike the Big Bang theory, according to which the Universe arose from extremely hot and dense space-time, where the standard laws of physics do not apply, the new hypothesis of a four-dimensional universe explains both the reasons for the birth and its rapid expansion.
According to the scenario formulated by Afshordi and his colleagues, our three-dimensional universe is a kind of membrane that floats through an even larger universe that already exists in four dimensions. If there were four-dimensional stars in this four-dimensional space, they would also explode, just like the three-dimensional ones in our Universe. The inner layer would become black hole, and the outer would be ejected into space.
In our universe, black holes are surrounded by a sphere called the event horizon. And if in three-dimensional space this boundary is two-dimensional (like a membrane), then in a four-dimensional universe, the event horizon will be limited to a sphere that exists in three dimensions. Computer simulations of the collapse of a four-dimensional star have shown that its three-dimensional event horizon will gradually expand. This is exactly what we observe, calling the growth of a 3D membrane the expansion of the universe, astrophysicists believe.
Big Freeze
An alternative to the Big Bang could be the Big Freeze. A team of physicists from the University of Melbourne, led by James Kvatch, presented a model for the birth of the universe, which is more like a gradual process of freezing amorphous energy than its splash and expansion in three directions of space.
The formless energy, according to scientists, cooled like water to crystallization, creating the usual three spatial and one temporal dimensions.
The Big Freeze theory casts doubt on Albert Einstein's currently accepted assertion of the continuity and fluidity of space and time. It is possible that space has constituent parts - indivisible building blocks, like tiny atoms or pixels in computer graphics. These blocks are so small that they cannot be observed, however, following the new theory, it is possible to detect defects that should refract the flows of other particles. Scientists have calculated such effects using the mathematical apparatus, and now they will try to detect them experimentally.
Universe without beginning or end
Ahmed Farag Ali of Benh University in Egypt and Sauria Das of the University of Lethbridge in Canada have come up with a new solution to the singularity problem by ditching the Big Bang. They brought ideas from the famous physicist David Bohm to the Friedmann equation describing the expansion of the Universe and the Big Bang. “It's amazing that small adjustments can potentially solve so many issues,” says Das.
The resulting model combined the general theory of relativity and quantum theory. It not only denies the singularity that preceded the Big Bang, but also prevents the universe from shrinking back to its original state over time. According to the data obtained, the Universe has a finite size and an infinite lifetime. In physical terms, the model describes the Universe filled with a hypothetical quantum fluid, which consists of gravitons - particles that provide gravitational interaction.
The scientists also claim that their findings are consistent with recent measurements of the density of the universe.
Endless chaotic inflation
The term "inflation" refers to the rapid expansion of the universe, which occurred exponentially in the first moments after the Big Bang. By itself, the theory of inflation does not refute the Big Bang theory, but only interprets it differently. This theory solves several fundamental problems of physics.
According to the inflationary model, shortly after its birth, the universe expanded exponentially for a very short time: its size doubled many times over. Scientists believe that in 10 to -36 seconds, the universe increased in size by at least 10 to 30-50 times, and possibly more. At the end of the inflationary phase, the Universe was filled with a superhot plasma of free quarks, gluons, leptons, and high-energy quanta.
The concept implies that exists in the world many isolated universes with different device
Physicists have come to the conclusion that the logic of the inflationary model does not contradict the idea of a constant multiple birth of new universes. Quantum fluctuations - the same as those that created our world - can occur in any quantity, if there are suitable conditions for this. It is quite possible that our universe has emerged from the fluctuation zone formed in the predecessor world. It can also be assumed that sometime and somewhere in our Universe a fluctuation will form, which will “blow out” the young Universe of a completely different kind. According to this model, child universes can bud continuously. At the same time, it is not at all necessary that in the new worlds the same physical laws. The concept implies that in the world there are many universes isolated from each other with different structures.
Cyclic theory
Paul Steinhardt, one of the physicists who laid the foundations of inflationary cosmology, decided to develop this theory further. The scientist, who heads the Center for Theoretical Physics at Princeton, together with Neil Turok from the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, outlined alternative theory in the book Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang (« Infinite Universe: Beyond the Big Bang). Their model is based on a generalization of quantum superstring theory known as M-theory. According to her, the physical world has 11 dimensions - ten spatial and one temporal. Spaces of smaller dimensions “float” in it, the so-called branes (short for "membrane"). Our universe is just one of those branes.
The Steinhardt and Turok model states that the Big Bang occurred as a result of the collision of our brane with another brane - a universe unknown to us. In this scenario, collisions occur indefinitely. According to the hypothesis of Steinhardt and Turok, another three-dimensional brane “floats” next to our brane, separated by a tiny distance. It also expands, flattens, and empties, but in a trillion years, the branes will begin to converge and eventually collide. In this case, a huge amount of energy, particles and radiation will be released. This cataclysm will launch another cycle of expansion and cooling of the universe. From the model of Steinhardt and Turok, it follows that these cycles have been in the past and will certainly repeat in the future. How these cycles began, the theory is silent.
Universe
like a computer
Another hypothesis about the structure of the universe says that our entire world is nothing more than a matrix or a computer program. The idea that the universe is a digital computer was first proposed by the German engineer and computer pioneer Konrad Zuse in his book Calculating Space ("computing space"). Among those who also viewed the universe as a giant computer are physicists Stephen Wolfram and Gerard "t Hooft.
Digital physics theorists suggest that the universe is essentially information and therefore computable. From these assumptions it follows that the Universe can be considered as the result of a computer program or a digital computing device. This computer could be, for example, a giant cellular automaton or a universal Turing machine.
indirect evidence virtual nature of the universe called the uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics
According to the theory, every object and event of the physical world comes from asking questions and registering “yes” or “no” answers. That is, behind everything that surrounds us, there is a certain code, similar to the binary code of a computer program. And we are a kind of interface through which access to the data of the “universal Internet” appears. An indirect proof of the virtual nature of the Universe is called the uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics: particles of matter can exist in an unstable form, and are “fixed” in a specific state only when they are observed.
A follower of digital physics, John Archibald Wheeler, wrote: “It would not be unreasonable to imagine that information is in the core of physics in the same way as in the core of a computer. Everything from the beat. In other words, everything that exists - every particle, every force field, even the space-time continuum itself - receives its function, its meaning, and, ultimately, its very existence.