Chapter :2

EXPANDING UNIVERSE & THE BIG-BANG THEORY

Todays modern scientists describe the universe in

term of two basic partial theories; General Theory of
Relativity that describes the force of gravity and the large
scale structure of the universe, i.e. the structure on scales
from only a few kms to as large as 1026 kilometers (the size
of the observable universe); and the Quantum Mechanics
that deals with a distance of a millionth of an inch.
However, both the theories are known to be inconsistent
with each other, it means both can not be correct.
In 1924, an American astronomer Edwin Hubble
found out with his landmark observations and demonstrated
that there are so many other galaxies existing except our
one. He also found out that the galaxies are going away
from each other. This confirmed the expansion of the
universe what scientifically supported that at the beginning
the universal objects or matters were closer together and
condensed as a large primordial or primeval nucleus. This
assumption established the Big-Bang Theory.
According to the Big-Bang theory, there was a time
about 10-20 thousand million years ago, all the matters
were extremely condensed in a very dense and hot primeval
nucleus. And after that, a suddenly gigantic explosion (BigBang) occurred that threw out all the matters in the form of
galaxies. Therefore, the galaxies are continuously moving
away from each other, causing the expanding universe. In
this way, the distances between galaxies are increasing on
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and the spatial gaps are also growing on.

However, Hubble discovered the distances of nine
different galaxies only. But, now we know that our galaxy
is only one of some hundred thousand millions that we can
see using the modern telescopes. It is clear now that each
galaxy containing itself some hundred thousand million
stars. Our own galaxy is too vast about hundred thousand
light years across and it is rotating slowly. The stars
residing in its spiral arms orbit around its (galaxy) centre
once in about several hundred million years. Our sun is just
an ordinary yellow star with average size, besiding near the
edge of one of the spiral arms.
Stars are so far way that they appear to us as fixed
stars just like a pin point of light. So how can we confirm
that they are being away from each other? Due to vast
majority of stars, we only observe one characteristic feature
of colour of their light-spectrum. Focusing the telescope on
any individual galaxy or star, we can observe similar light
-spectrum of different spectra, but the relative brightness of
their colour is found always exactly as like the glowing red
hot. In fact, the glowing red hot has a characteristic
spectrum that depends only on thats temperature (thermal
spectrum). In this way, we can suppose the approximate
temperature of a star. Not only this, but we can
acknowledge about the atmospheric and chemical or
elemental characters of such star with this light-spectrum,
because each condition absorbs a characteristic set of very
specific colour.
In 1920 and afterward, the astronomical
observations found the same characteristic sets of colour
spectrum of stars of other galaxies in respect to the stars of
our own galaxy, but they all were similarly sifting towards
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the red-ends. To understand the implications of this, we

must follow the Doppler-Effects.
We know that the visible light consists of waves or
fluctuations in the electromagnetic field. The frequency for
number of waves (per second) of light is so high that
ranging from 4-7 hundred million waves per second.
Different frequencies of light that we see as different
colours; the highest frequency appears at the blue-end of
spectrum where the lowest to the red-end of spectrum.
Now, suppose that a source of light at a constant distant
from us, such as a star emitting light -waves at a constant
frequency, certainly, we will receive the same frequency at
which that is being emitting. Now, if that source is moving
towards us, it will be closer every moment. It means, the
time between two wave-crests reaching us is shorter, and
therefore the number of waves (frequency), we receive
each moment is higher than thats former state. Similarly if
the source is moving away, the frequency of waves will be
longer or lower. In this condition of light we will have their
light-spectrum shifting towards red-end of spectrum. And
those moving towards us will produce the blue-shifting
spectrum. This relationship between frequency and speed is
called the Doppler-Effect.
The Uniform Expansion of the Universe

Because of the astronomical observations of far

away galaxies found only the red shifting spectrum of their
light etc. waves, so that, it has obviously considered that all
galaxies are moving away from us. This also established
that the universe is expanding uniformly and as fast as the
distance between them is growing. It means, as far as the
distance is increasing, their speed of departure is also
increasing proportionally with the time.
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This discovery of expanding universe was one of

the great revolutions at the 20th century. Before this,
Newton and others believed in the static model of the
universe. But, they did not think about the future prospectus
as to why should it not contract under the fluency of
gravity. Suppose that, if the universe is expanding fairly
slowly, the force of gravity would cause it eventually to
stop expanding, and then, to start contracting. And if, the
expansion-rate is more than a certain critical rate, the
gravity would never be strong to bind or stop it. In this way,
the universe would continue its expanding forever. As far
example, when one fires a cannon ball up perpendicular to
the earth surface, and if it has a perfectly slow speed, the
gravity would eventually hault the ball and it will start
falling back. But if, the ball has a certain critical speed
(about 7 miles per second), the gravity will not be able to
pull that back. So that, such the ball will keep going way
forever from the earth.4
However, Edwin Hubble found that galaxies of all
directions are moving away from us and that there is a
direct proportionality between the distance of the galaxies
and their red shifts. Hubbles law states that the velocity of
recession V of galaxy is directly proportional to its
distance from the earth (R). Hence, he made an equation of
V=HR (where H is the Hubbles parameter). And this is
why; we can conclude that the universe is expanding.5
In addition, here it is quotable that the Russian
physicist and mathematician Alexander Friedman had his
two very simple assumptions about the universe that it
looks identical in whichever direction we look; and that this
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would be true if we observe it from anywhere else. In this

way he showed that we should not expect the universe to be
static.
Freidmans assumption has been approximately
proved by two American physicists Arno Penzias and
Robert Wilson in 1965, when they were testing a very
sensitive microwave-detector (microwaves are just like the
light-waves but just with a low frequency of only 10 waves
per second). They found that their detector was picking up
more noise than it ought to be. This noise, like bird
drippings, did not appear to be coming from any particular
direction. Eventually, they found out and considered that it
was coming from out side of the solar system and even
beyond of the galaxy as the microwaves radiation. In fact,
now we know that the radiation must have traveled to us
across most of the observable universe and since it appears
to be the same in different directions. It established the first
assumption of Freidman, that the universe must be the same
in every direction if only on a large scale. For this, Penzias
and Wilson received the Noble Prize in 1978.
At roughly the same time of Penzias and Wilson,
two American scientists Bob Dickey and Jim Peebles were
also testing and working on microwaves with an important
suggestion of Gorge Gamow (once a student of Freidman)
that the early universe should have been very hot and
dense, glowing white hot. So, Dicke and Peebles argued
that we should still be able to see the glow of the early
universe, because the light from very distant part of it
would only just to be reaching us now. However, the
expansion of the universe meant that this light should be so
greatly red shifted that it would appear us now as the
microwaves radiation.6
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Now first apparently, all the evidences, that the

universe looks the same from all directions, suggests that
we may be in the centre place of the universe what was
Freidmans second assumption too. In Freidman model, all
the galaxies are moving way directly from each other. This
situation is rather like a balloon with a number of spots
painted on that which is being steadily blown up. As the
balloon expands, the distance between two spots also
increases accordingly. Thus there is no spot that can be
detected as the centre. Similarly, in this model, the speed at
which two galaxies are moving apart is really proportional
to the distance between them. So it predicts that, the red
shifts of a galaxy should be directly proportional to its
distance from us as exactly Hubble found. Similar models
were discovered in 1935 by the American physicists
Howard Robertson and British mathematician Arthur
Walker jointly.
Although, Freidman found only one, but in fact,
there are different kinds of
models
that
obey
Freidmans
two
fundamental assumptions.
There are three
models
of
Freidman
concerned. In the first
kind, that Freidman
found, the universe is
expanding sufficiently
slowly
that
the
gravitational attraction
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between different galaxies causes the expansion to slow

down and eventually to stop and then to collapse (fig. 2:1).
This figure shows how the distance between two
galaxies changes with the time. It starts at zero (big-bang)
and increases to a maximum, and then it decreases or
collapses to zero again.
In the second kind of solution, (see fig. 2:2), the
universe is expanding rapidly that the gravitational
attraction can never stop it though it does slow it down a bit
only. This kind of model or figure shows that the separation
between neighboring galaxies starts from zero and
eventually the galaxies are moving apart at a steady speed.
And finally, there is a third kind of solution, in
which the universe is expanding only just fast enough to
avoid re-collapse. In this case, the separation (fig: 2:3) of
the universe starts also from zero and it increases forever.
However, the speed at which the galaxies are moving apart
gets smaller and smaller, but it never reaches to zero. It
means, there is no any
boundary
of
the
universe to get an end.
Thus in this model of
expanding universe, the
expansion holds just a
critical speed that the
space is flat and
infinite.7
The modern physics* establishes the future of the
universe that the expansion depends on how much matter
the universe contains and on how fast it is expanding. This
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expansion can stop only if

it contains sufficient mass
for gravity to provide an
adequate attractive force to
slow down and reverse the
expansion. The critical
density (Pc) above which
the expansion will be
arrested is about 6x10-27
kgm-3, i.e. equivalent to
about 3.5 hydrogen atoms
per m3. Let P be the
average density of the universe. According to this, there are
three probabilities, such as in fig: 2:4.
(i) If P<Pc, the universe is open and the expansion
will never stop. In this model, eventually new galaxies and
stars will cease to form and existing once will end up as the
black dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes.
(ii) If P>Pc, the universe is closed and sooner or
later the gravity will stop the expansion. Thus, the universe
will start to contract. The progression of events will be the
reverse of those that took place after the big-bang, with an
ultimate big-crunch:

*Author

R.Murugeshan, ed. 2001, Publ. S.Chand & Company,

N.Delhi

a fiery death. In that case, perhaps the system will rebound

in another big-bang. Thus, a continuing cycle of the bigbang, expansion, contraction and big-crunch is a possibility.
(iii) And if P=Pc, the expansion will continue at an
ever decreasing rate but the universe will not contract. In
this case, the universe is said to be flat because the
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geometry of space in such a universe would follow the

figure: 2:5A.
If P< Pc, the space is
negatively curved: a two
dimensional analogy of a
saddle (fig: 2:5B)
If P>Pc, the space is
positively curved as the
surface of a spherical ball has
the positively curvature (fig:
2:5C).
In all cases, however,
the space time is curved.
To find out the value
of the critical density
First
consider
a
spherical volume of the
universe of radius R whose
centre is the earth. Assume
that the distribution of matters
in the universe is uniform. Let
P be the density of matters
inside the volume. Then mass
of the universe M=4/3 R3P.
If M=mass of the
galaxy,
Therefore, the total energy of the galaxy is the sum
of its kinetic and potential energies, i.e. E= 1/2 mv 2 -m
MG/R.
To escape the galaxy permanently from the
universe, it must have a maximum kinetic energy 1/2mv,
such that its total energy E=0.
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E =KE+U=1/2 mv2- GmM/R=0

1/2 mv2 =GmM/R
(According to Hubbles law V =HR, where H is Hubbles
parameter)
Therefore, 1/2mv2 =1/2m (HR)2 =GM/R/(4/3R3Pc)
Therefore, the critical density Pc=3H2/8G.
Thus, if the density is greater than the critical value
Pc, the galaxy is bound in the universe and eventually will
fall back. On the other hand, if P is less than Pc, the galaxy
will move away and thus keep the universe expanding.
According to the astronomical observations and
calculations, the present-mass density of the universe has
been estimated to be ~5x10kgm-3 that is about ten times less
than the critical value. This seems to indicate that the
universe will go on expanding forever.8
The Steady State Theory: Thomas Gold, Hermann
Bond & Fred Hoyel

They jointly suggested that as the galaxies move

away from each other, new galaxies were forming
continuously in the gaps between, from new matters that
were being created continuously. The universe, therefore,
would look roughly the same at all times as well as all
points of the space. This was called the steady state theory.
This theory required a modification of general relativity to
allow the continual creation of matters, but the rate, that
involved, was so slow (about one particle per cubic
kilometer per year). Therefore, it was not to conflict with
experiments. Although, it was simple and it made definite
predictions that could be tested by observations. One of
these predictions was that the number of galaxies or similar
objects in any given volume of space should be the same
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wherever and whenever we look.

But a Cambridge group of astronomers, led by
Martin Riley who had worked with Bondy, Gold and Hoyel
on radar during the IInd world war, surveyed the sources of
radio waves from outer space during 1950-60. They carried
out the results that most of the radio sources must lay
outside of our galaxy, indeed, many of them could be
identified with other galaxies too. And also, that there were
many more weak sources as being more distant ones. This
could mean that we are at the centre of a great region in the
universe in which the sources are fewer than elsewhere. On
the other hand, it could also mean that the sources were
more numerous in the past at that time that the radio waves
left on their journey to us than they were now. Either
explanation is contrary to the predictions of the steady state
theory.
Moreover, the discovery of microwaves radiation by
Penzias and Wilson, in 1965 also indicates that the universe
must have been much denser in the past. Therefore the
steady state theory had to be abandoned.9
Friedmans solution about the universe predicts that
at the same time in the past (near about 10-20 thousand
million years ago), the distance between galaxies must have
been zero.
Another attempt to avoid the conclusion that there
must have been a Big-Bang and therefore a beginning of
time had made by two Russian scientists Evgenii Lifshitz
and Isaac Khalantikev, in 1963. They suggested that if the
Friedmans universe is moving apart, so, it is not surprising
that at the same time in the past they were all at the same
place. However, in fact the galaxies are not moving directly
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just away from each other: they also had some small
sideways velocities. So, they need not have been all at
exactly the same place, but may be very close only. Perhaps
then, the current expanding universe resulted not from a
Big-Bang singularity, but from an earlier contracting phase.
As the universe had collapsed, the particles in that could
not all collide but had flown past and then away from each
other producing the present expansion of the universe. How
then we can have the claim whether the real universe
should have started out with a Big-Bang?
However, they withdrawn their claim in 1970.10
In 1965, a British mathematician and physicist
Roger Penrose suggested, using the light-cones, that it
behave in general relativity together with the fact that
gravity is always attractive. He showed that a star
collapsing under its own gravity is trapped in a region,
whose surface eventually shrinks to zero size. And, since
the surface shrinks to zero, so too must its volume and all
the matters in that star will be compressed into a region of
zero volume, so, the density of matter and curvature of the
space-time would be infinite. In other words, one has a
singularity contained into a region of space-time known as
a black hole. In 1970, St. Stephen Hawking and Roger
Penrose jointly found out the mathematical solutions and
proved that there must have been a big-bang singularity
provided only that the general relativity is correct and the
universe contains as much matters as we observe.
But after some times, Hawking turned against his
former assumption and re-established that there was in fact
no any singularity but the universe or stars can be
disappeared according to quantum effects. This assumption
provides the probability of black hole singularity for the
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evolution of the universe.

What is a black hole? To understand this, we should
follow the thermal history and the step evolution of the
universe.
Please follow the
next.........

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