Just Where Is The Energy For The "Big Rip" Coming From?
About a month ago I wrote post about what astronomer's call the "Big Rip". This is the theory that not only is the observable Universe expanding but the rate of expansion is actually increasing with time.
It is therefore speculated that if this continues on unabated that it will rip galaxies apart, then it will rip solar systems apart, then planets apart, and it will even rip molecules and atoms apart. Who knows, it may even rip nuclei and subatomic particles apart if the energies get large enough.
The one thing that is not talked about much is just where is all of this energy coming from? If the data is correct and if the effect is real then the energies involved to increase the acceleration of an entire observable Universe must be staggering.
Speculation #1: There Is A Massive Clump Of Matter Just Outside of the Observable Universe
The first speculation is that there is a very massive shell of matter that lies just outside of the universe that we are able to observe. This shell of matter is so large that it is simply attracting everything in our Universe outwards towards it.
The expansion of the Universe is uniformly outwards in all directions so this shell must therefore also be spherically symmetric around us (i.e. the same in all directions). It must also be farther away than the 45 or 50 billion light years that we can currently see with our telescopes.
This hypothesis feels weak. It seems to me that since the effects of gravity travel at the speed of light, if we cannot see this hypothetical shell of matter then its gravity also cannot affect us. This, in itself, seems to be enough to kill that idea.
Okay then, moving on to the next idea.
Speculation #2: There Is A Parallel Universe Influencing Ours
This one is more science-fictiony than the last. In this hypothesis one can speculate that maybe there is a parallel universe affecting the universe that we live in. This speculation however means that gravity will need to be able to travel through higher dimensions.
We know that there are 3 dimensions plus time (which can be treated as a special dimension). Some theories of gravity do hypothesize that the force of gravity can 'leak' into a fourth space dimension. This idea is proposed in an attempt to explain why gravity is so weak relative to the other three forces (electromagnetic force, weak force and the strong force).
So there may be something to this one, however it currently seems to be an untestable hypothesis and, as such, falls outside of some definitions of science and into the realm of metaphysics.
Having said that, some analyses of the variations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have looked for anomalous cold spots in this background, spots that might give a hint of an outside influence, and it appears that none have been found.
Oh well, onto the last idea.
Speculation #3: There Universe Is Incredibly Vaster Than We Can Imagine
First imagine a football field (American or European, it does not matter). Now imagine the observable Universe which is ~90 billion light years in diameter and filled with billions and billions of galaxies.
Next, imagine that our observable Universe is the size of a proton in that football field and the real true Universe is the size of that football field.
Lastly, imagine that the space-time of this true Universe is expanding and contracting in chaotic waves that are traveling all over this super-vast Universe.
In those locations where the space-time waves are expanding it will appear to the local residents that a "Big Bang" has happened and it will be confusing to them as to how that arose or where the Universe came from.
In those locations where the space-time waves are contracting it will appear to the local residents that a "Big Crunch" is occurring and they will despair that it will all be over in a few billion years. They may even speculate that a "Big Bounce" will occur and give birth to a new incarnation of the Universe.
If these gigantic waves in space-time are chaotic, and maybe even non-linear, then the expansions and contractions may also appear to accelerate and decelerate for mysterious reasons. The local lifeforms in each region may even speculate about parallel Universes causing these effects.
Closing Words
So in effect, the third speculation in this post essentially explains where the energy for the acceleration of our observable Universe may be coming from. It could basically just be an effect of a truly vast Universe with many expanding and contracting waves in space-time traveling through it.
These waves may have been traveling and bouncing around this Universe for essentially what we would call forever, constantly generating "Big Bangs" and "Big Crunches" at the wavefronts with stellar evolution and life evolution occurring in between these crests.
This type of concept would neatly explain where our Universe "came from" when the Big Bang occurred. It has always been here and the Big Bang is just a local space-time illusion due to our small size and short perspectives.
It might also imply the the Big Rip effect will slow, stop and reverse and then eventually our local volume of space-time will get hit with its own local Big Crunch.
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
The discovery that the rate expansion of the Universe is actually increasing is one of the more astounding finds in the last few decades especially so when one tries to imagine the vast energies that have to go into making something like this happen.
Thank you for reading my post.
Post Sources
[1] Expansion of the universe.
[2] The Big Rip.
[3] The Big Crunch.
[4] The Big Bounce.
[5] Observable Universe.
[6] Cosmic Microwave Background.
It's a mindfuck, man. Even if there is perfectly logical explanation as 2+2=4 we will probably never manage to understand it, because it's easy for the universe, but not for us. The universe doesn't expect from us to understand it. The universe doesn't care.
But if I have to choose, I will go with "Speculation #2" because maybe in the parallel universe things make little bit more sense.
Just a quick word about 100% of the rewards in SP: It is worth it only if SBD is under 1$, since SBD is artificially capped to 1$.
If SBD is just under the price of Steem it is still not worth it. At least this is what I researched a few months ago, if you do know better, tell me!
Thx for the heads up man.
Great article :-)
Unfortunately, we will never see what is behind the border of the observable Universe. Maybe we can put up new theses when the dark matter and dark energy are understood and maybe this will result in new theories about the beginning, the end and what is surrounding the Universe.
That's the sad part, that there may eventually be limits what we can ultimately see.
As always. Great post. Personally I fall on the side of the “Big Crunch” hypothesis in that the expansion will eventually slow, stop then reverse leading to an ultimate collapse and a repeat Big Bang. What amazes me is if that hypothesis is correct how many times might it have already happened?
@crystannson, I would love to be on board with that idea but our current laws of physics prevent any object from moving greater than the speed of light. The objects mass would become infinite requiring an infinite source of energy to maintain that speed. Sadly I think we are limited to figuring out wormholes to make vast distance travel possible. Either that or some form of stasis to prevent aging during the trip.
How many times have I made this post and how many times have you made that comment?
Exactly, in the wise words of C.C. Music Factory. Things that make you go hmmmm..
It's a almost true hypothesis, but I believe for greater advancements man should work on traveling with speed greater than light turning light years to months and then days, if that's even possible, only then I believe most secrets would be unravel , once again lovely post.
I would like to think so as well but sadly I feel that it too falls into the realm of metaphysics and will be ultimately untestable by any human developed science.
Well that's true, thanks for sharing