Scientists say no big bang, just eternity
ALBERTA, Canada (Christian Examiner) -- Scientists calculating corrections to the mathematics of quantum physics relating to Einstein's special theory of relativity have proposed the universe did not originate with a big bang as once thought, but is infinite, or eternal.
Even in the big bang theory, scientists have concluded matter and energy pre-existed, but that a break in all deterministic laws of space, time and matter, known as a gravitational singularity, caused all matter to collect into a dense concentration and then quantum fluctuations, which are brief changes in energy, caused a rapid expansion, or explosion (described as inflation), creating the present-day universe.
But scientists at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, and the Center for Fundamental Physics in Giza, Egypt, are proposing a mathematical fix which better explains what is observed about space and time with regard to how the universe came to exist in its present state.
Importantly, all theories for understanding the origins of the universe are based on mathematical modelling. Observed phenomena are interpreted with formulations, and, calculations are altered to add or remove constants or other factors in order to explain ongoing discoveries.
The key to the big bang theory is the detection of microwave background radiation, which are radio waves interpreted as "remnant heat" from the Big Bang. Scientists have offered alternative explanations for the source of this radiation, but none have succeeded so far.
This has become a focus of increasing intensity because of differences in the math between quantum mechanics, which attempts to explain the behavior of extremely small matter at extremely fast speeds, and Einstein's special theory of relativity, which explains the behavior of "everyday" objects at "everyday" speeds.
Now, Ahmed Farag Ali in Egypt and Saurya Das in Canada say they have developed a quantum correction term for "radiation" in Einstein's mathematial model that "gets rid of the big-bang singularity" according to their paper in Physics Letter B.
The result?
"Our theory suggests that the age of the universe could be infinite," Das told Live Science, not the 13.8 billion years calculated to the time of a big bang event.
In their paper, Ali and Das said their correction to Einstein's formula "pushes back the time singularity indefinitely, and predicts an everlasting universe."
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