Infinite or finite

Krish Ramkumar

2/18/13

Is the universe infinite or finite?

This question has been the age old conundrum in all of theoretical physics and philosophy. What was there before the big bang? Although string theorists have come up with a theory that explains the origin of the big bang, the question “what was there before that” remains unanswered. If the universe were in fact finite, mankind might be able to arrive at a universal theory that explains everything through science. But, What if the universe were infinite? The fact that the universe is never ending seems extremely dissatisfying and unconvincing to me.

On the contrary, mankind did not create the universe which implies that the universe need not function according to the laws of physics or under any other philosophical theory for that matter. We are insignificant subjects that are merely trying to; in a way decipher GOD’s own cosmic code. Whether this is really possible or not, I don’t have a clue. But from the aspect of theoretical physics, we certainly are getting closer to cracking “some” code.

For all we know, the universe might actually be infinite, albeit unconvincing. To get a feel for this idea, let us look at 2 points x and y separated by a “finite” distance. We all know from basic logic that there are infinite number of points between points x and y. The word finite loses its meaning when we talk about distance between two points. The entire number system by itself was created by mankind so that we didn’t have to deal with the concept of infinity. For instance take the famous Achilles and tortoise paradox. Achilles and tortoise agree to race with tortoise getting a 10 m head start. As the tortoise reaches the 10 m mark, Achilles also begins to run. Since Achilles is 10 times faster than the tortoise, by the time he reaches the 10 meter mark, the tortoise has travelled only 1 m ( tortoises’ speed is 1/10^th that of Achilles). When Achilles reaches the 11 m mark the tortoise also has travelled another one tenth of a meter (11.1m) and so on. As the infinite series continues, it is impossible for Achilles to catch up with the tortoise.

The most elemental quantity in the universe seems to be infinity. If there could be an infinite number of points between two arbitrary points x and y then why can’t the universe at large be infinite.

Achilles eventually winning the race makes this one of the most interesting paradoxes. Infinity as a concept could be the fundamental idea behind the universe.