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December 17, 2023
The fundamental question in physics and metaphysics for many people. Probably the mystery is that What exactly does the universe or universe we live in come from? And the theory that the great expansion or Big Bang (Big Bang), which is the origin of all things, appeared suddenly or exploded out of nowhere, nothing existed in the past. Is it really possible?
No matter how many somersaults you think, We cannot imagine the origin of all things from nothing. Because the common sense of ordinary people keeps reminding us There must surely be something fundamental in its origins, but where did something come from that should have already existed?
Before you get a headache because you think and can’t find a solution. Professor Alastair Wilson, an expert on philosophy of science from the University of Birmingham in the UK explained this issue so that people who are not physicists can easily understand it through an article published on the website The Conversation as follows:
When talking about the origin of the universe Instead of reflecting on the past, perhaps we must first imagine the end of things. what scientists believe today The universe will expand infinitely until galaxies are separated from each other. The interaction between matter is reduced to the point where space is still. Including the temperature becoming colder than before and becoming darker and darker until the last star dies. And the last giant black hole that swallowed everything has also evaporated.
But the end is in the form of this energyless and lifeless universe. Could it become the origin of a new Big Bang? In this regard, Prof. Wilson said: Before going to understand the problem. It would be better to start by considering the problem of how “raw material” was born.
While the Big Bang event was occurring No physical substance is stable. For example, atoms or molecules of elements are born. And this stable matter does not yet exist. Even if hundreds of thousands of years have passed since then
The first atoms of the universe were born. When the chaos after the Big Bang began to calm down The universe began to cool enough to stabilize complex matter. These atoms then fuse. Until it becomes a heavier element in the center of the star.
But even so Even knowledge of the origin of the first atom does not help us understand how How did all things arise from nothing? And if we look back to the origins of elementary particles smaller than atoms. which are sufficiently stable and can remain stable for a sufficiently long time, such as protons and neutrons. These particles were also formed ten thousandths of a second after the eruption of the Big Bang.
Image source: PHOTO LIBRARY OF SCIENCE
caption,
Diagram showing the evolution of the universe after the Big Bang.
Before the Big Bang event There is no matter according to the understanding of ordinary people. Why we will go back in time to talk about it We are not yet able to build particle accelerators with sufficiently high energies to simulate the conditions of this era, but such ancient times can also occur. Therefore we are not yet able to explain the process that gave rise to the first raw material of the Big Bang.
But physicists have not yet completely given up hope. Because today there is a highly plausible hypothesis that any form of physical world could have existed in the pre-Big Bang era. It is likely a soup of short-lived and rapidly dying elementary particles, including quarks, the smallest elementary particles that make up protons and neutrons.
In this age of undivided unity the polar opposites of matter and antimatter should exist in very similar quantities. The two particles always cancel when they meet. causing them to continually destroy and rebuild.
The resulting particles rapidly die out during this period. It arises and disappears in a state which may be called emptiness. But quantum field theory tells us that no vacuum, not even vacuum, is truly empty.
In space-time this seems like nothing. Instead, there is always movement in the form of ripples or fluctuations of energy. This motion can create particles and this principle has been proven true in many physics experiments.
For this reason we cannot say for sure Something comes out of nowhere. Due to the quantum vacuum condition as above. There is still hidden energy.
image source: ROGER PENROSE
caption,
Drawing showing a cyclic model of the universe by Prof. Roger Penrose.
The location of the void or space-time where there is nothing How did this happen? We must go back in time to find answers in an even older era. This is called the “Planck era” in which the current laws of physics no longer apply.
The Planck Era occurred in the blink of an eye, 10 trillion trillion trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. At this point, even space-time itself still arises and disappears due to quantum fluctuations.
If we want to clearly understand the circumstances of the Planck era, physicists must realize a unified theory of general relativity that provides a macroscopic description of the universe. It fits the theory of quantum mechanics, which describes the universe from the point of view of particles. Therefore, the new theory of “quantum gravity theory” will be the real answer to this problem.
Currently, the physical theory that comes closest to combining the above ideas is These include string theory and the theory of loop quantum gravity, according to which space-time is not permanent. But it is a temporary emergency, like ripples on the surface of the ocean.
However, this idea still raises questions: Fundamental quantum factors causing energetic ripples Until particles and space-time were created, where did they come from? On this point, physicists today agree on this point. They still don’t have a shred of proof. This can be used to confirm that something can come from nothing. Humanity still has to wait until that day. “The Theory of Everything” came out first. Only then will the physics community be able to give a clear answer.
Even now, the history of the early days of the Planck era remains a mystery. But there are those who try to give an explanation. How the Big Bang arose from a near-vacuum environment can be explained in many ways. Some use religious explanations that there is a creator of the universe or a god. Some physicists offer an explanation that there is a multiverse that always exists as parallel universes.
But a more recent explanation is a very interesting hypothesis. it is the theory of the cyclic universe of Prof. Roger Penrose, a British physicist who won the 2020 Nobel Prize, or a cosmological model that demonstrates that The universe can die and be reborn countless times over the course of eternity.
Professor Penrose discovers a strange mathematical connection between the conditions at the time of the big bang It is a state in which the origin of all things is concentrated in a very small point with high heat and density. with the situation at the end of the universe where everything was cold, dark and almost empty. He allows us to see that The two extremes contradict each other. They are essentially the same thing. and the void with almost nothing could have given birth to the universe full of things as we know it today.
Such mathematical processes can cause geometric changes to objects. Until it becomes a new thing that is in the same condition but has a change in size and time dimension. which is the old, vast, cold universe. It gave birth to a new, young universe, still small but warm.
However, Professor Penrose’s theory states that in this cycle the two universes are on different timelines. Therefore, the old empty universe will continue to exist indefinitely in the eyes of observers on that timeline. When the universe emerges, it has its own independent timeline.
Currently, Prof. Penrose et al. Some traces have been discovered that testify to the past existence of the universe. He points out that there are black holes that release energy from the universe. that existed before the beginning of our current universe. But his discovery of evidence and his theory of a cyclic universe is still debated and remains the subject of heated debate in the physics community.
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