Infinity: when did it begin?

Discussion in 'Free Thoughts' started by TheFrogger, Feb 23, 2019.

  1. TheFrogger Banned Valued Senior Member

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    Hi there!

    I have read a few comments tonight about the universe being infinite. If this is true, do these people believe the universe is without creation? Surely the big-bang theory puts an end to this. All measurements seem to state that the universe HAS a beginning. I would like to state that it also will continue for eternity, but theories such as the big-crunch puts an end to that. So, if the universe has a beginning, can it continue forever?
     
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  3. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    When you say "the universe is infinite", are you talking about time or space?

    The big bang happened everywhere in the universe at once, so it is quite possible for the universe to be spatially infinite and yet still have a beginning in time.

    While a big crunch is a theoretical possibility, currently the most likely scenario is that the universe will keep expanding and cooling, until eventually there is no more available energy to keep things like stars running. After that, everything just keeps drifting apart forever. This scenario is known as the "heat death", for reasons to do with thermodynamics.
     
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  5. geordief Valued Senior Member

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    If the sum of all energies is zero then is energy required for the process to continue?

    If a system can start with an infinitesimal division leading to incomparably huge amounts of opposing energies then might it be this initial process (if understood) was all required to set the universe in motion? (and to restart it if things did come to a heat death (when it might not even be possible to describe things as moving at all and all the Black Holes had evaporated)

    Could the universe have a kind of "trip switch" that allowed it to restart?

    Pure speculation no doubt.
     
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  7. ForrestDean Registered Senior Member

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    That's correct. The entire Universe is energy, and I believe this energy has always existed. Therefore, I don't believe anything has ever been created but reformed or made from this existing energy. Personally, I don't believe there was ever a "Big Bang" in which all stars, planets, and galaxies originated from a single infinitesimal point. Rather, I believe they were all formed at once uniformly across the physical part of Universe. If there actually was a big bang then I believe there would have been countless big bangs occurring across the physical part of Universe.

    Well, actually it just states that all our current scientific instruments have limitations.
     
  8. TheFrogger Banned Valued Senior Member

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    Touche, ForrestDean! Touche.
     
  9. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    It sounds like you think energy is a substance. Hint: it isn't. Nothing is "made of" energy.

    Is this an evidence-based belief you have, or just blind conjecture, similar to your belief about ancient civilisations?

    Why?
     
  10. mayheather12 Registered Member

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    I have also read that there will come a time when the universe will be like the supernova star.
     
  11. river

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    BB is an incomplete theory . It is a two dimensional explosion theory .

    The Universe is three dimensional . And did not come about through any explosion .
     
  12. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    Possibly you're thinking of a "big crunch" scenario in which the universe collapses, getting hotter and hotter as it does so. Current observations suggest that the big crunch won't happen. Instead, the universe will most likely go on expanding forever.
     
  13. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    No, it says nothing about a two-dimensional explosion.
     
  14. Write4U Valued Senior Member

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    Not if the event was not a mere super-nova but a hyper-quantum event where everything happened in one place at the same time.
    That would tend to stretch and warp space-time and as there is no resistance (infinitely permittive condition) outside the universe, the expansion of the universe will continue indefinitely?
     
  15. river

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    Disagree

    But that is what BB , is , in theory . It came from nothing .

    BB is not a theory based on three dimensions .
     
  16. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    Then you'll be able to link me to an article or (better) a peer-reviewed paper that references the big bang as a two-dimensional explosion.

    So....?

    The big bang theory doesn't deal with where the universe came from. At best, it only takes us back to about \(10^{-43}\) seconds after the initial "explosion".

    Sorry, you'll have to do better than just repeatedly assert things. Show me the money!
     
  17. river

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    Point explosion
     
  18. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    You said two-dimensional point explosion.

    So? Where's the article that says that?
     
  19. river

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    A point explosion is what we regullarily hear about . From nothing .

    What is the BB theory to you ? How would you describe it . In short .
     
  20. James R Just this guy, you know? Staff Member

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    The big bang theory is a cosmological model that explains how the universe expanded to its present size from a very small initial size. It describes the universe as starting in a low entropic state with very high temperature. It explains how the universe expanded and cooled, allowing nuclei and then atoms to form, which later formed stars, planets, galaxies and so on. It accounts for the large-scale structure of the observable universe that we see today.
     
  21. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

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    My cat doesn't understand my computer.
     
  22. Michael 345 New year. PRESENT is 72 years oldl Valued Senior Member

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    Not even the paws button when you have watched to many cute dog videos?

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  23. Gawdzilla Sama Valued Senior Member

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    I run car crash videos for background noise. It's a busman's holiday for me.
     

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