“Despite its name, the big bang theory is not really a theory of a bang at all. It is really only a theory of the aftermath of a bang.” –Alan Guth
If we trace the evolution of our Universe back in time, we can arrive at a time before there were organic molecules, rocky planets, heavy elements, galaxies, stars, or even neutral atoms. The farther back we go, the hotter the Universe gets, the higher in density and temperature, and more uniform. But at some point, this hot, dense, expanding state ceases to describe our Universe.
Image credit: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Because preceding it was a period of cosmic inflation: a period of indeterminate duration. It must have lasted at least some 10^-35 seconds, but it could have lasted much, much longer, including the possibility that it was around for an infinite amount of time. But we may never know, because the nature of inflation wipes that information out from our Universe altogether.
Image credit: Ned Wright, via http://ift.tt/1WHYn7p.
Go read the whole story, and find out why there’s a fundamental limit to knowledge.
from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1EFYPbe
“Despite its name, the big bang theory is not really a theory of a bang at all. It is really only a theory of the aftermath of a bang.” –Alan Guth
If we trace the evolution of our Universe back in time, we can arrive at a time before there were organic molecules, rocky planets, heavy elements, galaxies, stars, or even neutral atoms. The farther back we go, the hotter the Universe gets, the higher in density and temperature, and more uniform. But at some point, this hot, dense, expanding state ceases to describe our Universe.
Image credit: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Because preceding it was a period of cosmic inflation: a period of indeterminate duration. It must have lasted at least some 10^-35 seconds, but it could have lasted much, much longer, including the possibility that it was around for an infinite amount of time. But we may never know, because the nature of inflation wipes that information out from our Universe altogether.
Image credit: Ned Wright, via http://ift.tt/1WHYn7p.
Go read the whole story, and find out why there’s a fundamental limit to knowledge.
from ScienceBlogs http://ift.tt/1EFYPbe
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