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TheBigBangtheoryisanefforttoexplainwhathappenedattheverybeginningofouruniverse.Discoveriesin
astronomyandphysicshaveshownbeyondareasonabledoubtthatouruniversedidinfacthaveabeginning.
Priortothatmomenttherewasnothing;duringandafterthatmomenttherewassomething:ouruniverse.The
bigbangtheoryisanefforttoexplainwhathappenedduringandafterthatmoment.
Accordingtothestandardtheory,ouruniversesprangintoexistenceas"singularity"around13.7billionyears
ago.Whatisa"singularity"andwheredoesitcomefrom?Well,tobehonest,wedon'tknowforsure.
Singularitiesarezoneswhichdefyourcurrentunderstandingofphysics.Theyarethoughttoexistatthecoreof
"blackholes."Blackholesareareasofintensegravitationalpressure.Thepressureisthoughttobesointense
thatfinitematterisactuallysquishedintoinfinitedensity(amathematicalconceptwhichtrulybogglesthemind).
Thesezonesofinfinitedensityarecalled"singularities."Ouruniverseisthoughttohavebegunasan
infinitesimallysmall,infinitelyhot,infinitelydense,somethingasingularity.Wherediditcomefrom?Wedon't
know.Whydiditappear?Wedon'tknow.
Afteritsinitialappearance,itapparentlyinflated(the"BigBang"),expandedandcooled,goingfromvery,very
smallandvery,veryhot,tothesizeandtemperatureofourcurrentuniverse.Itcontinuestoexpandandcoolto
thisdayandweareinsideofit:incrediblecreatureslivingonauniqueplanet,circlingabeautifulstarclustered
togetherwithseveralhundredbillionotherstarsinagalaxysoaringthroughthecosmos,allofwhichisinsideof
anexpandinguniversethatbeganasaninfinitesimalsingularitywhichappearedoutofnowhereforreasons
unknown.ThisistheBigBangtheory.
BigBangTheoryCommonMisconceptions
TherearemanymisconceptionssurroundingtheBigBangtheory.Forexample,wetendtoimagineagiant
explosion.Expertshoweversaythattherewasnoexplosion;therewas(andcontinuestobe)anexpansion.
Ratherthanimaginingaballoonpoppingandreleasingitscontents,imagineaballoonexpanding:an
infinitesimallysmallballoonexpandingtothesizeofourcurrentuniverse.
Anothermisconceptionisthatwetendtoimagethesingularityasalittlefireballappearingsomewhereinspace.
Accordingtothemanyexpertshowever,spacedidn'texistpriortotheBigBang.Backinthelate'60sandearly
'70s,whenmenfirstwalkeduponthemoon,"threeBritishastrophysicists,StevenHawking,GeorgeEllis,and
RogerPenroseturnedtheirattentiontotheTheoryofRelativityanditsimplicationsregardingournotionsoftime.
In1968and1970,theypublishedpapersinwhichtheyextendedEinstein'sTheoryofGeneralRelativityto
includemeasurementsoftimeandspace.1,2Accordingtotheircalculations,timeandspacehadafinite
beginningthatcorrespondedtotheoriginofmatterandenergy."3Thesingularitydidn'tappearinspace;rather,
spacebeganinsideofthesingularity.Priortothesingularity,nothingexisted,notspace,time,matter,orenergy
nothing.Sowhereandinwhatdidthesingularityappearifnotinspace?Wedon'tknow.Wedon'tknowwhereit
camefrom,whyit'shere,orevenwhereitis.Allwereallyknowisthatweareinsideofitandatonetimeitdidn't
existandneitherdidwe.
BigBangTheoryEvidencefortheTheory
WhatarethemajorevidenceswhichsupporttheBigBangtheory?
Firstofall,wearereasonablycertainthattheuniversehadabeginning.
Second,galaxiesappeartobemovingawayfromusatspeedsproportionaltotheirdistance.Thisiscalled
"Hubble'sLaw,"namedafterEdwinHubble(18891953)whodiscoveredthisphenomenonin1929.This
observationsupportstheexpansionoftheuniverseandsuggeststhattheuniversewasoncecompacted.
Third,iftheuniversewasinitiallyvery,veryhotastheBigBangsuggests,weshouldbeabletofindsome
remnantofthisheat.In1965,RadioastronomersArnoPenziasandRobertWilsondiscovereda2.725degree
Kelvin(454.765degreeFahrenheit,270.425degreeCelsius)CosmicMicrowaveBackgroundradiation(CMB)
whichpervadestheobservableuniverse.Thisisthoughttobetheremnantwhichscientistswerelookingfor.
PenziasandWilsonsharedinthe1978NobelPrizeforPhysicsfortheirdiscovery.
Finally,theabundanceofthe"lightelements"HydrogenandHeliumfoundintheobservableuniversearethought
tosupporttheBigBangmodeloforigins.
BigBangTheoryTheOnlyPlausibleTheory?
IsthestandardBigBangtheorytheonlymodelconsistentwiththeseevidences?No,it'sjustthemostpopular
one.InternationallyrenownAstrophysicistGeorgeF.R.Ellisexplains:"Peopleneedtobeawarethatthereisa
rangeofmodelsthatcouldexplaintheobservations.Forinstance,Icanconstructyouasphericallysymmetrical
universewithEarthatitscenter,andyoucannotdisproveitbasedonobservations.Youcanonlyexcludeiton
philosophicalgrounds.Inmyviewthereisabsolutelynothingwronginthat.WhatIwanttobringintotheopenis
thefactthatweareusingphilosophicalcriteriainchoosingourmodels.Alotofcosmologytriestohidethat."4
In2003,PhysicistRobertGentryproposedanattractivealternativetothestandardtheory,analternativewhich
alsoaccountsfortheevidenceslistedabove.5Dr.GentryclaimsthatthestandardBigBangmodelisfounded
uponafaultyparadigm(theFriedmannlemaitreexpandingspacetimeparadigm)whichheclaimsisinconsistent
withtheempiricaldata.HechoosesinsteadtobasehismodelonEinstein'sstaticspacetimeparadigmwhichhe
claimsisthe"genuinecosmicRosetta."Gentryhaspublishedseveralpapersoutliningwhatheconsiderstobe
seriousflawsinthestandardBigBangmodel.6OtherhighprofiledissentersincludeNobellaureateDr.Hannes
Alfvn,ProfessorGeoffreyBurbidge,Dr.HaltonArp,andtherenownedBritishastronomerSirFredHoyle,whois
accreditedwithfirstcoiningtheterm"theBigBang"duringaBBCradiobroadcastin1950.
BigBangTheoryWhatAboutGod?
AnydiscussionoftheBigBangtheorywouldbeincompletewithoutaskingthequestion,whataboutGod?Thisis
becausecosmogony(thestudyoftheoriginoftheuniverse)isanareawherescienceandtheologymeet.
Creationwasasupernaturalevent.Thatis,ittookplaceoutsideofthenaturalrealm.Thisfactbegsthequestion:
isthereanythingelsewhichexistsoutsideofthenaturalrealm?Specifically,isthereamasterArchitectoutthere?
Weknowthatthisuniversehadabeginning.WasGodthe"FirstCause"?Wewon'tattempttoanswerthat
questioninthisshortarticle.Wejustaskthequestion:DoesGodExist?
Incosmology,theSteadyStatetheoryisanalternativetotheBigBangmodeloftheevolutionoftheuniverse.In
thesteadystatetheory,thedensityofmatterintheexpandinguniverseremainsunchangedduetoacontinuous
creationofmatter,thusadheringtotheperfectcosmologicalprinciple,aprinciplethatassertsthattheobservable
universeisbasicallythesameatanytimeaswellasatanyplace.
Whilethesteadystatemodelenjoyedsomepopularityinthemid20thcentury,itisnowrejectedbythevast
majorityofcosmologists,astrophysicistsandastronomers,astheobservationalevidencepointstoahotBigBang
cosmologywithafiniteageoftheuniverse,whichtheSteadyStatemodeldoesnotpredict.[1][2]
History
CosmologicalexpansionwasoriginallydiscoveredthroughobservationsbyEdwinHubble.Theoreticalcalculations
alsoshowedthatthestaticuniverseasmodeledbyEinstein(1917)wasunstableandcontradictedgeneralrelativity.
ThemodernBigBangtheoryisoneinwhichtheuniversehasafiniteageandhasevolvedovertimethrough
cooling,expansion,andtheformationofstructuresthroughgravitationalcollapse.
Thesteadystatetheoryassertsthatalthoughtheuniverseisexpanding,itneverthelessdoesnotchangeits
appearanceovertime(theperfectcosmologicalprinciple);theuniversehasnobeginningandnoend.Thisrequires
thatmatterbecontinuallycreatedinordertokeeptheuniverse'sdensityfromdecreasing.Influentialpaperson
steadystatecosmologieswerepublishedbyHermannBondi,ThomasGold,andFredHoylein1948.[3][4]
ItisnowknownthatAlbertEinsteinconsideredasteadystatemodeloftheexpandinguniverse,asindicatedina
1931manuscript,manyyearsbeforeHoyle,BondiandGold.However,hequicklyabandonedtheidea.[5]
SteadyStateTheory:
Thesteadystatetheoryisaviewthattheuniverseisalwaysexpandingbutmaintainingaconstantaverage
density,matterbeingcontinuouslycreatedtoformnewstarsandgalaxiesatthesameratethatoldonesbecome
unobservableasaconsequenceoftheirincreasingdistanceandvelocityofrecession.Asteadystateuniversehas
nobeginningorendintime;andfromanypointwithinittheviewonthegrandscalei.e.,theaveragedensityand
arrangementofgalaxiesisthesame.Galaxiesofallpossibleagesareintermingled.
ThetheorywasfirstputforwardbySirJamesJeansinabout1920andagaininrevisedformin1948byHermann
BondiandThomasGold.ItwasfurtherdevelopedbySirFredHoyletodealwithproblemsthathadarisenin
connectionwiththealternativebigbanghypothesis.Observationssincethe1950shaveproducedmuchevidence
contradictorytothesteadystatepictureandsupportiveofthebigbangmodel
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