New light on big bang theory.

[alokmohan]

New cosmic look may cast doubts on big bang theory<br />UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA NEWS RELEASE<br />Posted: August 2, 2005<br /><br />A new analysis of 'cool' spots in the cosmic microwave background may cast new doubts on a key piece of evidence supporting the big bang theory of how the universe was formed. <br /><br />Two scientists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) looked for but couldn't find evidence of gravitational "lensing" where you might expect to find it, in the most distant light source in the universe -- the cosmic microwave background. <br /><br />Results of this research by Dr. Richard Lieu, a UAH physics professor, and Dr. Jonathan Mittaz, a UAH research associate, were published Monday in the "Astrophysical Journal." <br /><br />In the same paper, Albert Einstein's 1917 theory that at a certain "critical" density the counteracting forces of gravity and expanding space can result in a "flat" universe no matter how irregular the distribution of matter might be, is proven mathematically for the first time. <br /><br />Proving Einstein right might become a problem for the standard cosmological model of how the universe was formed because Einstein's theory also predicts that the cosmic microwave background shouldn't look the way it does, according to Lieu. <br /><br />The problem, he says, is that cool spots in the microwave background are too uniform in size to have traveled across almost 14 billion light years from the edges of the universe to Earth. <br /><br />"Einstein's theory of how gravity attracts light, coupled with the uneven distribution of matter in the near universe, says you should have a spread of sizes around the average, with some of these cool spots noticeably larger and others noticeably smaller," he said. "But this dispersion of sizes is not seen in the data. When we look at them, too many cool spots are the same size." <br /><br />The cosmic microwave background is believed to be the afterglow of hot gases that filled the fledgling univers

 

[le3119]

Thank you for this outstanding article! This subject continues to be confusing for me, as it brings together so many issues:<br /><br />1. Most of the inflation occured during the "Plank second", which is about 10^-34 seconds in our time. During this period, space cooled, became transparent, and the quantum forces "broke down" and became identifiable as individual forces - strong, weak, electromagnetic and gravitational (as we hold out for the illusive "graviton" to unite gravity with quantum model).<br /><br />2. I've always understood the Big Bang to be an exceptable beginning for the whole process, I realize there are legitimate criticisms of this position.<br /><br />3. Does this article challenge "Mach's Principle" as Einstein described it in General Relativity, the notion of a fairly uniform distribution of matter in the universe? <br /><br />This article doesn't give me enough information about the authors' position. The truth is, I have acquired loads of info on this subject through books like "Gravity and Intertia" by John A. Wheeler (see below), but - being a layman with no academic background in astrophysics and calculus - I can get confused quite quickly. I'd like to here other commentary - please.<br /><br />

 

[alkalin]

There are many predictions that big bang has made and all, to my knowledge, failed to be anywhere accurate enough for acceptable science. A good one is that the CMB is a result of BB. This notion is a very soft ‘truth’, or failed prediction, because stars everywhere pour out much energy into the universe, which the BB purist totally ignores. They have to ignore current star emission because there is not enough CMB to support both star emission and BB.

 

[tom_hobbes]

Would I be correct in assuming that for the CMB to show no effects of gravitational lensing whatsoever, it's origin would have to be considerably closer at hand than anything, well, cosmic? Please pardon my extreme ignorance in advance. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#339966"> I wish I could remember<br /> But my selective memory<br /> Won't let me</font><font size="2" color="#99cc00"> </font><font size="3" color="#339966"><font size="2">- </font></font><font size="1" color="#339966">Mark Oliver Everett</font></p><p> </p> </div>