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walt fristoe
SFN Regular
USA
505 Posts |
 Posted - 02/07/2003 : 17:12:26
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How can the accelerating expansion of the universe be explained? Cosmologists have posited the influence of 'dark energy,' though they have no idea, as yet, what it might be.
But perhaps the accelerated expansion could be an effect of the geometry of space-time, i.e., the four-dimensional shape of the universe.
Imagine a torus (or doughnut) with an infinitely small 'hole', the exact center of which would be where the Big Bang (and Big Crunch) occurs. Space is in the horizontal dimension, and time in the vertical dimension.
Now, imagine that the universe begins at the center, at the Big Bang, as a tiny ring. It then moves upward through the time dimension. It would start very small, and grow larger as time proceeds, at first expanding very slowly, but more and more rapidly with time, until it reaches a point halfway to the antipodes (the equator). At this point it will begin to expand less rapidly, barely expanding at all as it approaches the antipodes. After passing the antipodes, it would begin to contract, very slowly at first, and then more and more rapidly as it nears the point halfway back to the center. It will then begin to contract more and more slowly until, as it 'falls' down the 'hole', it will be contracting very slowly, finally disappearing completely in the Big Crunch.
I'm not saying that the universe is toroidal, only that there are possible explanations of the accelerated expansion other than some mysterios, unknown 'dark energy'.
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"If God chose George Bus of all the people in the world, how good could God be?"
Bill Maher |
Edited by - walt fristoe on 02/07/2003 17:15:44
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
 Posted - 02/07/2003 : 18:35:56 [Permalink]
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Here's a great award winning cosmic head place...
http://itss.raytheon.com/cafe/qadir/qanda.html
Scroll down the above link to Big Bang Cosmology archived questions ....
http://itss.raytheon.com/cafe/qadir/acosmexp.html |
"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
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walt fristoe
SFN Regular
USA
505 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2003 : 18:52:35 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Randy
Here's a great award winning cosmic head place...
http://itss.raytheon.com/cafe/qadir/qanda.html
Scroll down the above link to Big Bang Cosmology archived questions ....
http://itss.raytheon.com/cafe/qadir/acosmexp.html
Thanks Randy! I very much enjoy reading about astrophysics and cosmology.
Here's a question: Does the existence of Quantum computers confirm the reality of the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics? |
"If God chose George Bus of all the people in the world, how good could God be?"
Bill Maher |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 02/07/2003 : 21:58:43 [Permalink]
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walt fristoe wrote:quote:
Here's a question: Does the existence of Quantum computers confirm the reality of the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics?
As far as I've ever been able to tell, the Many Worlds Interpretation invokes an entity we can never test. I've never seen anything which says that when a new universe "splits off" due to a superposition of states, the two (or more) new universes can ever again become one, or ever interact in any way, which would be required in order to test the theory. I don't have a citation handy, but I also recall that the MWI isn't mathematically any "prettier" than any other interpretation.
As far as I can tell, the MWI is the atheistic quantum physicist's version of theism (or as close as it'll ever get). There's no way to test MWI, there's no reason to posit it in order to explain what is observed, and it's irrational to base choices in real life upon it. What possible difference could it make, except to soothe someone who might think that there's another universe in which another 'him' made a different choice and thus doesn't live every day deep in regret over some unfortunate turn of events?
Perhaps it's just me, but Dr. whats-his-name's admission to Discover Magazine (a year or so ago?) that he tries to be a nice guy so that hopefully his doppelgangers in the other worlds will be more likely to be nice to others as well is simply delusional. And no less delusional than someone who's nice to others simply because he/she is either trying to get to Heaven or is afraid of Hell. There are plenty of quantifiable reasons to be nice to other people, why make something up?
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- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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