What is the Universe expanding into..

Do you think there was anything before the big bang?

  • I don't think there was anything before the Big Bang

    Votes: 56 12.5%

  • I think something existed before the Big Bang

    Votes: 200 44.7%

  • I don't think the big bang happened

    Votes: 54 12.1%

  • I think the universe is part of a mutiverse

    Votes: 201 45.0%
  • Total voters
    447
Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
#5,061
What is the logic behind thinking that there isn't anything spherical inside a BH, but rather a /ring/disc/tube in there? Is it the "hope" that there is an entry to another world that drives this?

I would rather estimate that whats in the center of a BH is the most spherical objects in the universe - the surface os perfectly smooth the n:th grade and it is "very round" - as it is probably - sit down... still, as in not spinning and thus, have no girdle.

Again a first ever announcement here 😉

And btw - a BH don't contain a true singularity beacuse when that forms for the first ans only time (per stint) in the universe, the big crunch begins.

//
 
Last edited:
#5,062
mchambin said:
Indeed.
Boggled about "Volume of a black hole", I found a paper where it is said the inside volume depends of the chosen metric for the space inside. Then they calculate different volumes using different metrics.
My understanding is: We don't know, the inside volume of a BH is not defined, it does not exist.
Why don't they say so ?
It seems to me, people are not able to say: "I do not know" ...and this is getting worse.
Click to expand...
They still haven't identified a sample of dark energy. They're about to toss that theory in favor of another one. Where are the strings?




The whole system is BREAKING DOWN🙂
 
#5,066
Discopete said:
How short is a string?😕
Click to expand...
Cosmic strings, if they exist, would be extremely thin with diameters of the same order of magnitude as that of a proton, i.e. ~ 1 fm* or smaller. This is much smaller than any cosmological scale.

*The femtometre, symbol fm, is equal to 10^−15 metres.

P.S. Not to be confused with the string in string theory!
 
Last edited:
#5,067
What I am really saying is that, with quantum gravity hypotheses et al,

irony-3-650x488.jpg
 
#5,068
I seem to detect some negativity towards the scientific method amongst the audience. 😉

We must have patience! 😎

It's only been around 100 years since Einstein first introduced the quantum nature of light - something that, in 1921, would earn him the Nobel prize for his services to Theoretical Physics.

Much has been discovered in just the last 30 years or so:

  • Quantum teleportation (1992)
  • The creation of the first Bose-Einstein condensate (1995)
  • The accelerating expansion of the universe (1997)
  • Experimental proof that neutrinos have mass (1998)
  • The sighting of the Higgs boson at Cern (2012)
  • Gavitational waves are observed (2015)
  • First image of a Black Hole (2019)
If you want evidence that scientists are making practical use of quantum theory then look no further than Quantum Computing:
What Is Quantum Computing? - Business Insider

Here's a question for you: Is it true that quantum computers are running their calculations in parallel universes? 😱
 
Last edited:
#5,069
Interesting to note that 120 years ago, we didn't even know the atom existed (although a Greek philosopher had postulated that all matter was made up of tiny 'indivisibles' about 2300 yrs ago).

If you think about the fact that we now have the Standard Model and can concoct molecules to order (think vaccine, genome splicing, materials sciences etc) just 120 yrs later I'd say that pretty amazing! 🙂
 
#5,071
I'm pretty glad so little is solved. What would we do after THAT! 😕

Three Royal Institution speakers, three different styles and topics.

Jim Baggott. Very calm. Loop Quantum Gravity:
Why Space Itself May Be Quantum in Nature - with Jim Baggott - YouTube

Current research at the LHC. Harry Cliff. Quite jumpy. Mostly K mesons and CP violation:
Beyond the Higgs: What's Next for the LHC? - with Harry Cliff - YouTube

And my favourite. Matt Parker. Hyperactive. Mathematical Magician amazes us with tricks:
Four Dimensional Maths: Things to See and Hear in the Fourth Dimension - with Matt Parker - YouTube

8-cell.gif


My money was on the Tesseract as his 4D favourite. But NO! Excellent animations. 😀
 
#5,076
Discopete said:
Were you there? Remember they "say" they saw it. Let's see some pics.
Click to expand...

It's all here for you, Discopete. You gotta attend the lectures. 😀

Beyond the Higgs: What's Next for the LHC? - with Harry Cliff - YouTube

@Galu. I don't really get it myself.

tesseract-thumb.gif


But not a bad attempt to explain what is essentially a shadow in 3D:

Four Dimensional Maths: Things to See and Hear in the Fourth Dimension - with Matt Parker - YouTube

Naturally I liked the the LHC one. Biggest machine ever built. Fraught with difficult engineering problems. LHCb - Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment
 
#5,077
Discopete said:
Were you there? Remember they "say" they saw it. Let's see some pics.
Click to expand...
There are no "pics" of the Higgs boson, scientists just see its footprint.

This is a problem that scientists face when communicating with the public at large. The layman relies heavily on images to illustrate and represent complex scientific concepts.

For example, DNA is much too small for photographic treatment so visual artists and designers create images of the iconic double helix for public consumption.

In the case of the Higgs boson, while the audience expects to ‘see’ the physical form of the particle, this search is in vain. As particle physicists point out, it is impossible to actually visualize the subatomic particles.

That's because the Higgs boson isn’t really a ‘thing’ in the way that the layman might understand the term. Rather, it is a perturbation, a ripple in an energy field.

Analogy time! Looking at the attached image, we know a person or persons existed because they left behind their footprints!
 

Attachments

  • Footprints.jpg
    Footprints.jpg
    90.2 KB · Views: 147
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom