Big Bang - Boom? Part 2

In addition to the mystery of the “Trigger” of the Big Bang and the “inflation” process (to explain the unexpectedly consistent temperatures), science has been wrestling with two other strange things about our universe. They don’t really have an explanation for these phenomena so they refer to them as Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

Dark Matter

The force of gravity is something we can all relate to – it’s what keeps us from floating off our chairs and into space. And most of us know that we would weigh less on the moon since it is smaller than the earth and has less gravity. Many also understand that it is the force of gravity that keeps planets and moons in stable orbits. For those who might not understand how this works, think of the moon and the earth. The earth has a strong gravitational pull on the moon, basically trying to crash the moon into the earth. So why doesn’t the moon crash into the earth? The moon is circling the earth at a very high rate of speed (1.03 km per second), and this speed is the perfect speed needed to keep the moon from getting closer to the earth (picture a ball on the end of a string – if you hold the end of the string and spin the ball fast enough above your head, the string gets tight and the ball “orbits” your hand. Slow down and the string starts to sag and the ball will crash into you. Spin it too fast and you won’t be able to hang on and the ball will fly away from you, maybe crashing into a window.)

The earth and all the other planets in our solar system also orbit the sun in the same way. Solar systems are often grouped together and they will also be in orbit around each other.

To help understand how the universe was formed, scientists studied galaxies and noticed something peculiar. Some galaxies were in orbits that appeared to be moving way too fast for the amount of matter that they could detect. Basically, there wasn’t enough mass to create the amount of gravity needed to keep the system from flying apart. Yet, there they were – these super fast spinning galaxies.

So, to make a long story short, scientists came up with the term “dark matter” to explain there must be something else that is making the gravity stronger. This special something must have similar gravitational properties like normal matter, but we can’t detect it using normal methods (like reflecting light or emitting radiation). Some scientists estimate that dark matter makes up 80% of all matter in the universe. Of course, the concept of dark matter is strictly theoretical – we can’t prove it exists since we can’t detect it. But since these fast spinning galaxies exist, there must be something that holds them together. Something that doesn’t conform to the laws of physics. Something we can’t detect with any scientific instrument yet created. Something is holding this universe together – or should I say Someone is holding this universe together?

Dark Energy

Another unexpected discovery made relatively recently is that the universe is still expanding, and is expanding at a faster rate than before. This is counter intuitive. Basic physics tells us that once an object has been set in motion and has achieved a stable velocity, it can’t speed up unless it receives more energy. If anything, objects should tend to slow down due to the gravitational pull of other objects. Some models of the universe suggest the expansion of the universe was actually slowing down about 5 billion years ago. Yet, the universe appears to be still expanding and expanding faster than previously thought. So, once again science proposes another special something that doesn’t conform to normal physics and is responsible for the additional energy that would fuel our expanding universe. They call this special something “dark energy” because, like dark matter, we can’t detect it or prove it exists. Another special Something that our universe needs to survive.

Conclusion

My explanations of the Trigger, Inflation, Dark Matter, and Dark Energy are very basic and anyone with a degree in physics could likely point out several things wrong with my posts. And I want to be clear that I’m not trying to point out any weaknesses or failures on behalf of scientists who are trying to explain our universe. But I think there are some key things we can learn from the science of the Big Bang.

1. Many people, Christians and scientists alike, underestimate the significance of the basic premise of the Big Bang Theory – it confirms the first three words of the Bible “In the beginning”. Prior to the Big Bang Theory, most scientists (including Einstein) understood the universe to be static (never changing). This was in stark contrast to the Biblical creation story which clearly stated the universe had a beginning and was created by God out of nothing. As the Big Bang Theory was first introduced, many people in the scientific community were against it because of the “religious implications”. Ironically, many people in the church community felt the Big Bang Theory was a threat to them because it provided an explanation of the origin of the universe without the need for a God. But think about this for few moments. If the Bible was just an ancient book written by men, how and why would they come up with the idea that the entire universe was created all at once out of nothing? All evidence at that time (and up until about 50 years ago) pointed to a universe that was never changing, always there. How could the Bible be right, if it was written by mere mortal men? Was it just a lucky guess or coincidence that they got this right?
   
   
   
2. The laws of physics are not completely universal. Science is suggesting that there must be some things (dark matter, dark energy) that do not follow the laws of physics, yet these things have a profound and sustaining impact on the entire universe. Without these mysterious things, the universe could not exist. If scientists can now accept there must be something that transcends our known universe, perhaps it is now a shorter leap of faith to accept that the God spoken of in the Bible is the One responsible for the effects attributed to Dark Matter and Dark Energy. I don’t know about you, but whenever I think about this, a song pops into my head (“He’s got the whole world, in His hands…”).

As always, I welcome your comments and questions.

Jac

Big Bang - Boom?

The generally accepted scientific theory for how the universe began is referred to as the Big Bang Theory (not to be confused with the TV show). Very simply, the Big Bang Theory states that our entire universe began about 14 billion years from a single dot that contained all the stuff (matter and energy) that makes up all the stars and planets. The dot was infinitely dense and infinitely small – referred to as a singularity. For some yet unknown reason, that dot suddenly expanded and as it expanded, the particles and energy immediately started arranging themselves into atoms and molecules eventually creating all matter, energy, planets, and stars. At one point there was nothing, then there was everything.

The Big Bang Theory is a relatively new scientific discovery, gaining scientific acceptance between 1949 and 1969. Prior to this, most scientists felt the universe was relatively static and had always existed (it never had a beginning), thus in conflict with the Biblical Creation account. So when science finally accepted the Big Bang Theory, they had to (somewhat reluctantly) agree that at least the first three words of the Bible – “In the beginning” – were correct. Our universe had a beginning.

For the past 50 years or so, many scientists have been working to refine the Big Bang Theory and figure out a few key questions – what triggered it? why is the background radiation (think temperature) of the universe the same in every direction? Why is gravity much stronger than it should be based on how much matter we can detect? Why does the universe appear to be expanding even faster than before (shouldn’t it be slowing down)?

What’s interesting is how science is handling the answers to these four perplexing questions. As I review their responses in this post and the next one, keep a few things in mind. The scientific method has a few key assumptions – one of the essential assumptions is that everything must adhere to scientific laws (such as the laws of physics). So science simply can’t accept something that doesn’t conform to basic laws (like suggesting there is a heavenly being who is not affected by gravity or time). The extension of this assumption is that if something appears to defy scientific laws, it means we just don’t understand how it works yet.

The Trigger

Before the Big Bang, everything was crammed together into a single dot. Even the concept of empty space didn’t really exist yet. And gravitational theory says that large, dense objects have extremely strong gravitational forces that prevent things from leaving them. So, if everything was inside this dot, and the gravity was infinitely strong – what could have triggered an event so powerful that it could overcome the power of infinite gravity? This is a perplexing question. If everything was inside the dot, the bang must have started from the inside (since there is nothing outside the dot). But what mechanism could be responsible for overcoming an infinitely strong gravity – gravity that is so strong that the smallest particles of matter (protons, neutrons, electrons) have collapsed and there is no motion? Why did it start at that particular time? Why not sooner, or later? How long did that dot exist before the Big Bang?

Some scientists speculate that time itself didn’t exist before the Big Bang. Hmm … sounds familiar. I think I read that in a Book written a few thousand years ago. Before God created the universe, time (as we experience it) did not exist. As for the trigger, there are some theories that suggest that something (neither matter nor energy) must have existed outside of the dot in order to have triggered the event. This special something is not bound to the laws of physics as we know them - perhaps a parallel universe existing in a different space-time dimension. Wait a minute – doesn’t this contradict one of the basic assumptions of science that everything must conform to the laws of the universe? Ok, let’s assume the trigger was something that existed outside of the dot that does not conform to the laws of the universe. That opens a nice doorway for me to introduce scientists to Someone who doesn’t conform to the laws of the universe and actually claims to be the Trigger of the created universe.

Inflation

Let’s move on to the next issue with the Big Bang. If the Big Bang was a random, uncontrolled event (ie no Intelligent Being was in charge), then we should expect that the results should be somewhat random also. Think about what happens when things explode in the movies – some particles are brighter than others because they have different temperatures, and there is no set pattern as to why some are hotter than others. So if there was this incredible rapid random expansion of this dot, we should expect that some sections of the aftermath are hotter than others. This is exactly what scientists expected to find / prove to support the Big Bang Theory. They directed their telescopes across the sky and recorded the “temperature” of the universe in different locations.

To measure the temperature of the universe, they actually measure the background microwave radiation. Instead of finding lots of random temperatures, they found very consistent temperatures. In fact, they found identical temperatures in completely opposite directions in space which meant that at some time, those regions must have been close together. But this would mean that the Big Bang was not a sudden event, but one that took a much longer time – perhaps years instead of seconds. But a “slow” Big Bang doesn’t follow the laws of physics – things that go “boom” start fast and then slow down, not the other way around. If it started slowly, the strong gravity should make it slow down even more and perhaps collapse it.

So, when this unexpected result was discovered, scientists needed to refine the Big Bang Theory. They couldn’t explain these results so they added a new step in this process that is referred to as “inflation”. After the initial expansion event, the relatively small universe found a new equilibrium – a somewhat stable state with a uniform temperature. It then “inflated” very quickly and fairly evenly (think of blowing up a balloon) thus explaining the uniform temperatures across the sky. But what would cause the inflation to happen? Scientists don’t have a clue. It doesn’t follow the laws of physics. It must have been something that doesn’t conform to the laws of physics. Hmm…maybe it was this mysterious Someone who triggered the event in the first place?

Next time I will review two more strange things about the Big Bang. Very dark things.

As always, I welcome your comments and questions.

Jac