Is it possible to understand what came before the beginning of our present universe by projecting how matter energy space and time interact in our current universe to a time before it began?
We think so.
The Big Bang theory postulates the universe emerged from a singularity and is presently expanding from the tremendously hot dense environment associated with it. Additionally it assumes the momentum generated by the heat of that environment is sustaining its expansion.
However, it has difficulty explaining where the energy originated to cause its expansion.
The reason this presents a problem is because the law of conservation of energy/mass says that in a closed system it cannot be created or destroyed. Since, by definition our universe is a closed system energy/mass cannot be created or destroyed in it.
However the proponents of the big bang model would like us to believe that it was created out of nothing which would be a violation of that law.
Granted some physicist’s have devised a cleaver and what some believe to be a contrived or “adhoc” mathematical solution to this problem by postulating the existence of an inflation field even though there is absolutely no experimental or observational evidence to support its existence.
However there is another explanation for origin of the energy powering the expansion of our universe which does not violate any of the accepted physical laws, makes a great deal more sense than assuming its expansive energy originated out nothing and would give us the ability to understand what came before the beginnings of our present universe.
We know the equation E=mc^2 defines the equivalence between mass and energy and since mass is associated with the attractive properties of gravity it also tells us, because of this equivalence the kinetic energy associated with the universe’s expansion also has those attractive properties. Additionally the law of conservation of energy/mass tells us that in a closed system the creation of kinetic energy cannot exceed the gravitational energy associated with the total energy/mass in the universe.
However, not all of the energy of associated with the universe’s expansion is directed towards it because of the random motion of its energy/mass components. For example, observations indicate that some stars and galaxies are moving towards not away us. Therefore, not all of the energy present at the time of its origin is directed towards its expansion.
As mentioned earlier the law of conservation of energy/mass tells us that the kinetic energy of the universe’s energy/mass cannot exceed its gravitational contractive properties. Therefore, at some point in time the gravitation contractive potential of its energy/mass must exceed the kinetic energy of its expansion because as mentioned earlier not all of that energy is directed towards its expansion. Therefore at that point, in time the universe will have to enter a contractive phase.
(Many physicists would disagree because recent observations suggest that a force called Dark energy is causing the expansion of the universe accelerate. Therefore they believe that its expansion will continue forever. However, as was shown in the article “Dark Energy and the evolution of the universe” Oct. 1 2012 if one assumes the law of conservation of mass / energy is valid, as we have done here than the gravitational contractive properties of its mass equivalent will eventually have to exceed its expansive energy and therefore the universe must at some time in the future enter a contractive phase.)
The velocity of contraction will increase until the momentum of the galaxies, planets, components of the universe equals the radiation pressure generated by the heat of its contraction.
At this point in time the total kinetic energy of the collapsing universe would be equal and oppositely directed with respect to the radiation pressure associated with the heat of its collapse. From this point on the velocity of the contraction will slow due to that pressure and be maintained by the momentum associated with the remaining mass component of the universe.
However, after a certain point in time the heat generated by its contraction will become great enough to ionize the remaining mass and cause it to reexpand because the expansive forces associated with it will exceed the contractive forces associated with its energy/mass.
This will result in the universe entering an expansive phase and going through another age of recombination when the comic background radiation was emitted. The reason it will experience an age of recombination as it passes through each cycle is because the heat of its collapse would be great enough to completely ionize all forms of matter, including protons and neutrons to their quark components.
However, at some point in time the contraction phase will begin again because as mentioned earlier its kinetic energy cannot exceed the gravitational energy associated with the total mass/energy in the universe.
Since the universe is a closed system, the amplitude of the expansions and contractions will remain constant because the law of conservation of mass/energy dictates the total mass and energy in a closed system remains constant.
This results in the universe experiencing in a never-ending cycle of expansions and contractions of equal magnitudes.
Many cosmologists do not accept the cyclical scenario of expansion and contractions because they believe a collapsing universe would end in the formation of a singularity similar to the ones found in a black hole and therefore, it could not re-expand.
However, according to the first law of thermodynamic the universe would have to begin expanding before it reached a singularity because that law states that energy in an isolated system can neither be created nor destroyed
Therefore because the universe is by definition an isolated system; the energy generated by its gravitational collapse cannot be radiated to another volume but must remain within it. This means the radiation pressure exerted by its collapse must eventually exceed momentum of its contraction and therefore it would have to enter an expansion phase because its momentum will carry it beyond the equilibrium point were the radiation pressure is greater that the momentum of its mass. This will cause the mass/energy of our three-dimensional universe to oscillate around a point in the fourth *spatial* dimension.
This would be analogous to the how momentum of a mass on a spring causes it spring to stretch beyond its equilibrium point resulting it osculating around it.
There can be no other interoperation if one assumes the validity of the first law of thermodynamics which states that the total energy of our three dimensional universe is defined its mass and the momentum of its components. Therefore, when one decreases the other must increase and therefore it must oscillate around a point in four spatial dimensions.
The reason a singularity can form in black hole is because it is not an isolate system therefore the thermal radiation associated with its collapse can be radiated into the surrounding space. Therefore, its collapse can continue because momentum of its mass can exceed the radiation pressure cause by its collapse in the volume surrounding a black hole.
If this theoretical model is valid the heat generated by the collapse of the universe must raise the temperature to a point where protons and neutrons would become dissociated into their component parts and electrons would be strip off all matter thereby making the universe opaque to radiation. It would remain that way until it entered the expansion phase and cooled enough to allow matter to recapture and hold on to them. This Age of Recombination, as cosmologists like to call it is when the Cosmic Background Radiation was emitted.
One could quantify this theories model by using the first law of thermodynamics to calculate the temperature of the universe when the radiation pressure generated by its gravitational collapse exceeds the momentum of that collapse and see if it if it great enough to cause the complete disassociation of the proton and neutron into their quark components as it must to account for their observed properties and that of the Cosmic back ground radiation.
However this provides physical connection to the previous cycle because of the feedback loop that would be an integrals part of the system describe above.
For example the mechanism outlined above would provide a negative feedback loop in terms of universe’s total mass because if it is too great the speed of its collapse will be faster due to its greater gravitational potential thereby causing the next cycle to begin at a higher temperature. This will result in a faster expansion rate and therefore less time for mass to clump together to form stars and galaxies. While if its mass component is too small it would expand to a larger volume resulting a slower contraction resulting in the next cycle beginning at a lower temperature which means its expansion will be slower allowing for the creation of more mass.
In other words it gives us a way of determining what came before the beginning of our universe because it shows that some of its physical properties such as the ratio of its total mass to its expansion rate can be understood in terms of what it was before it began.
Later Jeff
Copyright Jeffrey O’Callaghan 2013