Most people agree our universe is expanding, My question: does the expansion cause the fabric of space to stretch and get thinner, or does the universe expand because new fabric is created ? I would suspect a big-bang universe starting from a singularity to stretch the fabric of space and change factor C in the long run, maybe even to the point that the universe will loose its coherency. EndGame theories: The BIG RIP I would suspect expansion caused by inserting new fabric, compliant with Steinhards Ekpyrotic Universe, where kinetic energy of bouncing M-branes is converted to 3 dimensional space. Endgame theories: STEINHARD What do current observations tell us ?
There is no fabric. It's just a catchy term used in popular science books. But it's not meant to be taken literally.
I think both the mentioned theories are valid cosmologies, not fringe ones; it certainly seems as if vacuum actually consists of somthing, even if that something is only virtual; it also seems as if this something is increasing in quantity, driving the acceleration of the expansion of the universe. If it is dark energy, it may be possible to tap this energy to create wormholes in space and zero point energy, wonderful things whch could allow humanity to colonise the whole universe; unfortunately it may also cause the universe to expand into subatomic particles in 20 billion years, (the big rip) which seems like a long time, but is a disappointment compared to the aeons promised by other cosmologies. __________________ SF worldbuilding at http://www.orionsarm.com/main.html
