The Big Bang Theory - Coursework Example

The Big Bang Theory Introduction In the beginning, approximately 13.7 billion years ago, there was nothing. One day, something unknown expanded somewhere bringing along the development of space and time with it. The cause of this activity is unknown but the expansion surely brought out the universe that we know today. The clusters and constellations of stars, the planets, the asteroids, comets and meteors, even the black holes—everything is inside it. And at present times, the expansion still continues to take place (Hawking & Ellis, 1968; Daney, 2006). This attempt to elucidate the development of the universe is called The Big Bang Theory, developed by Edwin Hubble in 1929 (Feuerbacher & Scranton, 2006). The age of the universe was estimated basing on the temperature, correlation function of galaxies and the Type Ia Supernovae which fill the universe. The exact process started with an expansion, followed by an inflation. Elements and particles started forming as the inflation ended; the universe continued its expansion. Along with the activity, the temperature dropped extremely and the energy of the forming particles declined. A great energy that holds the particles called quarks together into protons and neutrons became independent and indistinguishable owing to its electromagnetic and weak forces. The protons and neutrons fused to create deuterium as well as the helium nuclei and trace amount of lithium. These elements are still abundant and found in the universe today—about 75 per cent of it is hydrogen, while helium makes the 25 per cent; traces of other heavier elements are also there to make up the ordinary matter in the starts. Hundreds of thousands of years later, photons no longer interacted immediately after they are made. Electrons were then captured by the heavy elements to create the primordial atoms. And after millions of years, the universe is now what we know today (The Primordial Soup, 2000). Unlike the common misconception that the big bang actually suggests of an explosion that stimulated the birth of our universe, the standard theory talks rather about expansion that created space (astronomytoday.com, 2010). The misconception of an explosion was believed to have rooted from the term “big bang” itself, which was used by the proponent of the Steady State Theory Sir Fred Hoyle in 1950. Hoyle, who was Hubble’s opponent in establishing the development of the universe, had trouble understanding the idea of a growing universe (Feuerbacher & Scranton, 2006). Hubble used the term not only to refer to that particular instant when the pragmatic expansion of the cosmos started, but as well as to the general astral model that illuminates the development and expansion of the cosmos. The word is also used to refer to Alpher-Bethe-Gamow theory that tells of the prehistoric substance composition through nucleosynthesis (experiencefestival.com, 2010). Hubble’s Theory In 1923, Hubble was interested in other things. Originally, he wanted to prove that some of the nebulae are actually other galaxies, much like our Milky Way. He used the largest and new telescope made by the astronomers in California to facilitate his research, trying to seek means to calculate the distances to the other galaxies. In 1929, he compared his findings to that of astronomer Vesto Slipher’s redshift measurements and developed his Hubble diagram (Sloan Digital Sky Server 2010). Support to the Big Bang Theory What major evidences support the validity of the big bang theory? First of all, there is the evident expansion of the universe. Considering the distance and velocity of each measurable galaxy, it shows that at about 14 billion years ago, everything must have been closer to each other. Hubble's law indicates that we are now in the middle of explosions of the galaxies. This theory states that the equation v = HD to always exist, wherein D corresponds to the proper distance, v corresponds to the recessional velocity, and v, H, and D varies based on the expansion of the Universe. The abundance of light elements such as hydrogen and helium also account for this. Third major proof is the discovery of the CMB, with which Radioastronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson shared the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physics. Furthermore, it is just reasonable to have a beginning of everything shows that in the Universe’s first days, it was seen to be in full thermal equilibrium, and it emits and absorbs photons continuously which gave a blackbody spectrum (Hawking & Ellis, 1968). The earth then cooled to a temperature wherein photons cannot anymore be created. Years after, there came the process of recombination where combined nuclei and electrons began to form atoms. Thus, radiation was created after the electrons have recombined. Such radiation is said to be seen, or observed in almost every part of the Universe. There are also fluctuations observed in the CMBR, owing to temperature variations (Kolb and Turner, 1990). As mentioned in the early parts of this text, this activity agrees harmoniously with the big bang nucleosynthesis. The Big Bang since the big bang theory is the lone reason for relative abundance of light elements, likewise it is almost impossible to “tune” the Big Bang to produce an average of 20-30% helium (Steigman, 2005). The last evidence that this paper will show is the Galactic evolution and distribution. This states that there are detailed observations of morphology and the galaxies’ and quasars’ distribution which can be the proof of the existence of Big Bang. According to observations, there are suggestions which say that the first galaxies and other matters in space which were formed approximately a billion years after the Big Bang continue to form bigger structures in space like the supersclusters. This proof also states that the observations concerning galaxy, and quasar distribution together with the formation of stars agree with the concepts of Big Bang simulations of the Universe’s structure and are contributing big to the Big Bang Theory. Another evidence of the Big Bang is the cosmic microwave background radiation which today shows an almost as accurate measurement in comparison with the ages of the stars (Steigman, 2005). Another is the large-scale structure of the universe that has been confirmed over the last several years. And since we know that big bang is the beginning of everything, then it is just conclusive that the oldest stars in the universe are younger than it (Feuerbacher & Scranton, 2006). Since the big bang theory is the most popular and established of all universal development theories, many modern scientists are interested to test its validity. A number of experiments were made in the hope of providing an explanation or discerning what really happened during the first stages of the formation of the universe. The European Organisation of Nuclear Research (CERN) tried to craft a smaller version of the big bang launched on September 10, 2008. This was created about 300 feet beneath the Swiss-French border by employing its Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle smasher, which was designed to support huge energy collisions between protons, supposing that the produced impacts will repeat what exactly happened just right after the big bang. They also projected that the experiment will reveal “Higg’s boson” (or “God’s particle”), that one thing that gave way to life and existence in the universe. Though a success, the LHC was not used to full capacity as the protons will not start colliding till a couple of weeks yet. A lot of concerns were raised against the project for fear that it might invoke a black hole which will eventually lead the universe to its destruction. CERN assured them that nothing like that will ever happen (The Primordial Soup, 2000). The researchers of today now mostly agree over the Big Bang Theory. However, this did not come as easy as it was contradicted by some issues and problems in the past years. These issues include the Horizon problem, the flatness/oldness problem, Magnetic Monopoles, Baryon Asymmetry, Globular Cluster Age, Dark Matter, and Dark Energy. The horizon problem says that information cannot travel faster as compared to light. That in a finite age, the universe would be setting a limit on the separation upon contact of two regions in space. This However, this problem was answered by the inflationary theory. This theory states that a uniform and isotropic scalar energy field was dominating the Universe during the early period or stages. The second problem encountered was the flatness/ oldness problem which is a problem connected with Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker metric (Kolb and Turner, 1990). Contentions against the Big Bang Theory There are actually a lot of studies that try to explain the formation of the universe. Since space is composed mostly of “dark matter,” these studies conclude that the cosmos was originally a mass of black space, but bodies are clumped together. And as time goes by, the spatial entities multiplied (Caldwell, Kamionkowski, & Weinberg, 2003). Before the period of inflation, even before the era called Planck time, gravity was unified with the strong, weak and electromagnetic forces. Due to insufficient data that will make Grand Unified Theory established, nothing much can be said to support this conclusion. The Superstring Theory, or most commonly termed as the M-Theory, is a theory that states the forces are unified. It can be tested if there is a way to yield and produce predictions on what transpired during those times (Caldwell et al, 2003). The most interesting part of it all is to fathom the causative factor of the big bang itself. Even though it was stated that there was absolutely nothing before the event, curious minds can't still help but dwell on the subject. One theory that offered an explanation was the theory of quantum gravity. There are also a number of speculations that were acknowledged to deal with this phenomenon. One of this, aside from the M-Theory, is the loop quantum gravity. Another is the “no-boundary hypothesis” presented by Stephen Hawking and James Hartle. Their theory was met with problems as it involves ideas of the universe to eventually stop expanding and reverse its activity. In 1998, Neil Turok refined the theory, presenting a mathematical device that was known as the “pea instanton” (Open Questions: The Big Bang, 2005). Other remarkable speculations were presented by Alan Guth, Andre Lindre and many others. They tried to develop a variety of theory of inflation. One type is the “eternal inflation” where the idea of a false vacuum was employed. Within that vacuum, decay begins at isolated points in perpetuity. Yet, decay never reaches anywhere as inflation is happening so rapidly in the surrounding medium. Rather, the points where decay begins are those that become a new universe, one of which is the universe that we have. Or it could be that each of these points has completely distinct physical laws. The multitude of universes formed in the process is termed the “multiverse” (Open Questions: The Big Bang, 2005). In 2001, suggestions of two or more copies of universe existing on higher dimensions called “branes.” Some of these may be located near each other, enough to produce collisions over very long periods of time. And each of these collisions will create re-initialization of the universe on each brane to a beginning that you can now connect to the big bang. Nevertheless, there is no inflationary phase mentioned in this theory as it suggests of flatness. Called originally as “ekryptic” or the “big splat,” the theory is now called “cyclic cosmology” owing much to its indefinite, repetitive activities. Paul Steinhardt and Neil Turok are just one of the few proponents of this theory (Open Questions: The Big Bang., 2005). Conclusion A well tested theory, Big Bang Theory has a large quantity of data that comes from all the different types of observations that provide enthusiasts with a fixed picture of the geometry, composition and history of the universe. Even when defied by objections and alternative models, the big bang still stands as the most strongly supported theory of the universe to this day. References Back to Creation: The story of the big bang. (2000). Retrieved on February 20, 2010 from http://outreach-old.web.cern.ch/outreach old/public/cern/PicturePacks/BigBang/captions.html Big bang. (2010). Retrieved on February 20, 2010 from http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Big_Bang/id/1894318. Caldwell, R.R, Kamionkowski, M., Weinberg, N. (2003). "Phantom energy and cosmic doomsday". Physical Review Letters, 91, 071301.doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.071301. arΧiv:astro-ph/0302506 Daney, C. (2006). Open questions: The big bang. Retrieved on February 20, 2010 from http://www.openquestions.com/oq-co008.htm. Feuerbacher, B. & Scranton, R. (2006). Evidence for the big bang. Retrieved on February 20, 2010 from http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/astronomy/bigbang.html#evidence Hawking, S. & Ellis, G. (1968). The cosmic black-body radiation and the existence of singularities in our universe. Astrophysical Journal, 152, 25-36. Kolb, E.W. & and Turner, M.S. (1990). The early universe. Addison-Wesley, New York. The Primordial Soup. (2008). Retrieved on February 20, 2010 from http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/Research/QGP-en.html Open Questions: The big bang. (2005). Retrieved on February 20, 2010 from http://www.openquestions.com/oq-co008.htm#articles Sloan Digital Sky Server. (2010). The Hubble diagram. Retrieved on February 20, 2010 from http://cas.sdss.org/dr6/en/proj/advanced/hubble. Steigman, G. (2005). Primordial nucleosynthesis: Successes and challenges. Introductory Journal of Modern Physics. E15arΧiv:astro-ph/0511534. Wallensky, G. (2000). Big bang, beginning of the universe. Retrieved on February 20, 2010 from http://www.astronomytoday.com/cosmology/bigbang.html. Read More