Such variations!

[kaneda]

The CMB is almost uniform yet from the smallest variations in this, we are told that we have a wall of galaxies 12,000 times the mass of our own galaxy. "A hole in the universe" a billion light years across with almost nothing in it. And a black hole of 18,000,000,000 solar masses. In other words, a universe that is about as far from uniform as can be in just 13.7 billion years.

Is this believable? :shrug:

[spidergoat]

I think they have yet to explain these variations fully. Some have suggested it was due to a previous universe, who's effects were magnified by the inflationary period.

[draqon]

CMB: cosmic microwave background radiation

[draqon]

I think they have yet to explain these variations fully. Some have suggested it was due to a previous universe, who's effects were magnified by the inflationary period.

which would backup a theory that universe is cyclical.

[kaneda]

If you have a universe which has almost totally collapsed then a new universe begins before the process completes, it could rapidly form structures around debris left from the previous universe.

[quantum_wave]

The CMB is almost uniform yet from the smallest variations in this, we are told that we have a wall of galaxies 12,000 times the mass of our own galaxy. "A hole in the universe" a billion light years across with almost nothing in it. And a black hole of 18,000,000,000 solar masses. In other words, a universe that is about as far from uniform as can be in just 13.7 billion years.

Is this believable? :shrug:It is hard to believe if the time frame you mention marks the beginning of time as is implied in BBT. The cause of the large scale structure discovered in the CMB seems to hint at preconditions to the big bang I think.


If you have a universe which has almost totally collapsed then a new universe begins before the process completes, it could rapidly form structures around debris left from the previous universe.This idea could support an arena concept where a big crunch forms from the remnants of previous big bangs. Such circumstances could exist if our expanding universe is a single arena in a greater universe along with other similar arenas in various stages of playing out.

[Dinosaur]

Inflation was invoked to explain the lack of uniformity our universe: The galactic clusters & huge voids.

The inflation concept seems a bit ad hoc, and might be the weakest link in the chain of reasoning on which the Big Bang is based.

The evidence for an expanding universe seems almost impossible to refute. However, I wonder about the validity of extrapolating beyond the phase transition from an energy dominated universe to a matter dominated universe (Id est: Extrapolation to times when the universe was opaque).

It is impossible with current technology to make observations of the state of the universe in the era when it was opaque. It is likely to be forever impossible to make such observations.

I wonder how content the experts are with the notion of inflation & the extrapolation back to within minutes or centuries of the start of the Big Bang. Perhaps those advocating the current Big Bang theory view inflation & extreme extrapolation as neccesary evils acceptable only due to the lack of any concept they deem more plausible.

BTW: There was an interesting article in Scientific America a few few months ago: The End of Cosmology. It deals with the final consequences of the current Big Bang theory. Way far in the future, each current galactic cluster is expected to become a single isolated galaxy. Intelligent beings in such a universe would not be able to observe other galaxies: They would be beyond the observable universe centered on a given galaxy.

In the absence of historical records, there would be no evidence supporting the notion of an expanding universe. The comology of that era would be much the same as the cosmology of the late 19th & early 20th century. That cosmology viewed the universe as consisting of a single galaxy surrounded by an infinite void.

It seems obvious that any evidence relating to a time prior to 13-15 billion years ago is similarly lost to us.

[kaneda]

This idea could support an arena concept where a big crunch forms from the remnants of previous big bangs. Such circumstances could exist if our expanding universe is a single arena in a greater universe along with other similar arenas in various stages of playing out.

I would think an original big bang where nothing formed other than hydrogen, a second BB where small structures formed and a third BB where there was sufficient stuff left over to form large structures.

[kaneda]

My problem with expansion is that we have no reliable reason for it in the very early universe. If matter appeared after one millionth of a second (ie: we have a whole universe then), why does it not shrink into a black hole?

[kaneda]

My problem with expansion is that we have no reliable reason for it in the very early universe. If matter appeared after one millionth of a second (ie: we have a whole universe then), why does it not shrink into a black hole?

If tired light worked as an explanation, then the further away something is, the greater it's red shift, which is what we have.