The boundless set of concentric spheres
The Big bang theory, as we know it, seems to work beautifully in explaining the present universe and the origin of the observable universe. We tend to use the word observable rather loosely but it does have a subtle importance to it because the universe is very different from the universe we observe, in my opinion. The big bang theory takes us back to the beginning of the observable universe and the age is estimated to be around 13.7 billion years. This estimation comes from the fact that the radiation emitted after the big bang has taken this long to cool to this present temperature that we see.
When we look deep into the sky and look at a star X which is Y light years (distance travelled by light in one year) away, we are looking at the star, Y years ago in the past. This star might not exist now for all we know. When we look at the sun we are looking at the light that was emitted 8 minutes ago. When I look at the screen in front of me, I am looking at it a billionth of a second in the past. Our senses are such that we need a medium to observe and that medium is light. The very innate property of light having a cosmic speed limit restricts us to view the universe only in one direction, the past.
Past, present and future might be coexisting in different frames of references. For instance, my past in space-time can be the future that is yet to be unraveled by an inhabitant in some other part of the universe and the future that we unravel as we travel through the passage of space-time might be overlapping with another inhabitants’ past.
From the scientific findings, we have come to a consensus that the big bang originated from some primeval particle that was extremely dense. This particle exploded giving rise to the universe that we have come to know of. However, it is not clear how this particle came into existence. Some of the greatest minds have suggested that it was due to random quantum fluctuations. If this were the case, taking into account the expansion of the universe, the model in my opinion should be a collection of concentric spheres with the origin as the primeval particle or the big bang. According to this model, the observers are on the surface of the sphere. The sphere that we exist in would be the sphere with a radius of 13.7 billion light years. It would be impossible for someone to travel from one point on one of the concentric spheres to a diametrically opposite point because by the time we get there the sphere would have increased in size.General relativity,however allows that trough wormholes. There also might be spheres that exist beyond the realms of the present sphere and it would also impossible to get to that sphere because we always look into the past as we look farther into the cosmos. Perhaps the sphere is some sort of a cosmic snow globe which allows /gives us the illusion of travelling far and yet never reaching the edge of the so called universe. However we can reach spheres that have smaller radii than ours but inhabitants on the smaller sphere may have no idea that we even exist since we would be beyond the realms of their observable universe. Similarly we might not know about any inhabitants that might exist beyond our sphere. This is why the term observable becomes so important. The universe that might exist beyond the observable universe can never be observed just like the concept of infinity.
Krish Ramkumar
Hi Krishnu it is always interesting to read what you write. Your thought process is similar to mine but you are more of a scientist than I am. I may have been one once upon a time. I have looked at the Universe as a mathematical model, where by plotting the coordinates of space and time one is able to fix an event. we can only see space that is around us and we measure time by trying to fix a point from when it began. It is within these constraints that H.G.Wells came out with his 'The Time Machine'. May be one day it will become a reality. this would of course presume that all events are ever present and the change we see is only an illusion. Which of course will take us back to Maya of the Hindu thought. Whatever discoveries that science makes there will always be something beyond our boundaries of comprehension. This is interesting. Keep thinking and all the best.
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ReplyDelete.HI Mani Athimber,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback. I was looking forward to it. Its strange how there's always something unsolved in the universe and it makes me really uneasy. The fact that we can never get to the real truth is rather unconvincing. Although mankind can make the best of what is presented to us.Hopefully that time machine gets built in the near future :)
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ReplyDeleteHi Krishnu
ReplyDeleteI am happy that you have started a dialogue which , though the subject chosen is very complex, is very interesting. It has given me an involuntary interest to go in quest of increasing my knowledge- not that it is very high at present- on this topic. A healthy discussion is always good in my opinion and helps us to further our knowledge.
I do understand that philosophy and physics coexist. At the same time, I am of the view that we enter the realms of philosophy when we find no answers in science. It is also true that the conclusions based on scientific quest may not be valid beyond a point or in a parallel universe which is being talked about in scientific circles. Perhaps, that is what we call observable universe.
This also leads us to spiritualism. In your article, you have mentioned a particle existing just before the big bang. I assume that you have been referring to the Higgs Boson. Does it mean that Higgs Boson is the beginning of everything. If it is so, it must be the equivalent of " Param Porul" frequently mentioned by Gnanis. Rishi Kaladi ( I might have misspelled the name), I remember reading, mentioned the existence of " Parama Anu" thousands of years ago. Later, Greek Philosopher Democritis also mentioned about this.
My question posed to you is this. How HIggs Boson itself came in to existence. Was there some other thing which created the HIggs Boson. This is the time when one realizes God. Until one finds the beginning of the beginning, the never ending quest will continue.
Best wishes.
Appa
Thanks Dad.
ReplyDeleteI havent read about the param porul and what Democritus had said. The beginning of the beginning like you say might be unsolved always.
From what little i have read about the Higgs Boson, It is not the premival particle. Though the Higgs is called the “God Particle”, It is a common misconception. Often times the name is misleading to say the least.
Just after the big bang, the universe started to fine tune (anthropic principle) itself giving rise to various particles (electrons, protons,photons and so on) and physical constants (speed of light, Planks constant etc). From mathematics and various scientific observations it is said that even if these constants change by a tiny amount, the universe as we know it will obliterate immediately. How this fine tuning happened and why it happened still remains the greatest mystery.As stated earlier, even if the values were off by an order of magnitude of 1, we would not exist. So Why did the universe get the values that it has? .Are the values such that the existence of everything is bound by some innate property, which is predetermined?The only answer to this as of now is the supreme creator,GOD.
Coming back to the Higgs boson;
As soon as the big bang occurred, the universe started to cool and a uniform field was switched(Higgs field) on and elementary particles started to emerge with their set values.There were two sets of fundamental family of particles. One was called fermions and the other, Bosons. The class called fermions consisted of elementary particles such as electrons, protons, neutrons that make up the structure of every entity that we see in the universe. The second class called the bosons represents the family of particles called the force carriers. In other words, Four fundamental forces in the universe (Electromagnetic force, strong and weak nuclear force and gravity) require a medium to transfer energy from one place to another. Simply put they act as transporters. The force carrier particle for the electromagnetic force are photons, the strong and weak forces interactions are done through W, Z bosons and gluons ( Not entirely sure of this). Gravity moves as ripples in spacetime causing waves, the carrier particle responsible for this are gravitons ( These particle can be proven through the discovery of the higgs boson). And finally the most elusive and exotic of the family of bosons( force carriers), the Higgs Boson is the particle that is responsible for carrying the force of the Higgs field itself. The Higgs field decides whether a particle gets mass or not.
To get an idea about this Higgs field, let me share an analogy that i came across sometime back. Think of this Higgs field as the paparazzi, the fundamental particles (electrons photons and other bosons) as people, the mass being associated with how famous each person is.More massive the particle, more famous the person.Now the crowd is going to let the less famous people go through and be all over the more famous person. Photons as they are mass-less particles go through the higgs field just like an ordinary person goes unnoticed in a crowd. The electrons gain a little mass as they go through the higgs field (relatively more famous).
Note: This does not mean that the photon is less important, It is only for the sake of the analogy.
Similarly Various particles that move through the Higgs field gain some or no mass. Now the Higgs boson which is responsible for transferring the force of the Higgs field itself is one of the heaviest fundamental particles and it is said that the transfer of this force is so quick that the Higgs boson appears and vanishes in one billionth of a trillionth of a second (If i remember right). This is reason why it is extremely difficult to find this even in a particle accelerator. However, they now seem to have caught a glimpse of the after effect left by the “God particle”. But the fact about the beginning of beginnings remains unsolved.