The greatness and diversity of the surrounding world can amaze any imagination. All objects and objects surrounding a person, other people, various types of plants and animals, particles that can only be seen with a microscope, as well as incomprehensible star clusters: they are all united by the concept of "Universe".
Theories of the origin of the Universe have been developed by man for a long time. Despite the absence of even the initial concept of religion or science, in the inquisitive minds of ancient people questions arose about the principles of the world order and about the position of a person in the space that surrounds him. It is difficult to count how many theories of the origin of the Universe exist today, some of them are being studied by leading world-famous scientists, others are frankly fantastic.
Cosmology and its subject
Moderncosmology - the science of the structure and development of the universe - considers the question of its origin as one of the most interesting and still insufficiently studied mysteries. The nature of the processes that contributed to the emergence of stars, galaxies, solar systems and planets, their development, the source of the emergence of the Universe, as well as its size and boundaries: all this is just a short list of issues studied by modern scientists.
The search for answers to the fundamental riddle about the formation of the world has led to the fact that today there are various theories of the origin, existence, development of the Universe. The excitement of specialists looking for answers, building and testing hypotheses is justified, because a reliable theory of the birth of the Universe will reveal to all mankind the probability of the existence of life in other systems and planets.
Theories of the origin of the Universe have the character of scientific concepts, individual hypotheses, religious teachings, philosophical ideas and myths. They are all conditionally divided into two main categories:
- Theories according to which the Universe was created by the creator. In other words, their essence is that the process of creating the Universe was a conscious and spiritualized action, a manifestation of the will of a higher mind.
- Theories of the origin of the Universe, built on the basis of scientific factors. Their postulates categorically reject both the existence of a creator and the possibility of a conscious creation of the world. Such hypotheses are often based on what is called the principle of mediocrity. They assume the possibility oflife not only on our planet, but also on others.
Creationism - the theory of the creation of the world by the Creator
As the name implies, creationism is the religious theory of the origin of the universe. This worldview is based on the concept of the creation of the Universe, the planet and man by God or the Creator.
The idea was dominant for a long time, until the end of the 19th century, when the process of accumulating knowledge in various fields of science (biology, astronomy, physics) accelerated, and evolutionary theory became widespread. Creationism has become a kind of reaction of Christians who adhere to conservative views on the discoveries being made. The dominant idea of evolutionary development at that time only intensified the contradictions that existed between religious and other theories.
What is the difference between scientific and religious theories
The main differences between the theories of various categories lie primarily in the terms used by their adherents. So, in scientific hypotheses, instead of the creator - nature, and instead of creation - origin. Along with this, there are issues that are similarly covered by different theories or even completely duplicated.
Theories of the origin of the Universe, belonging to opposite categories, date its very appearance in different ways. For example, according to the most common hypothesis (the big bang theory), the Universe was formed about 13 billion years ago.
In contrast, the religious theory of the origin of the universe gives completely different numbers:
- According to Christiansources, the age of the universe created by God at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ was 3483-6984 years.
- Hinduism suggests that our world is approximately 155 trillion years old.
Kant and his cosmological model
Until the 20th century, most scientists were of the opinion that the universe was infinite. This quality they characterized time and space. In addition, in their opinion, the Universe was static and uniform.
The idea of the infinity of the Universe in space was put forward by Isaac Newton. The development of this assumption was carried out by Emmanuel Kant, who developed the theory that there are also no time limits. Moving further, in theoretical assumptions, Kant extended the infinity of the universe to the number of possible biological products. This postulate meant that in the conditions of the ancient and vast world, without end and beginning, there can be an innumerable number of possible options, as a result of which the appearance of any biological species is real.
Based on this theory of the possible origin of life forms, Darwin's theory was later developed. Observations of the starry sky and the results of astronomers' calculations confirmed Kant's cosmological model.
Einstein's Thoughts
At the beginning of the 20th century, Albert Einstein published his own model of the universe. According to his theory of relativity, two opposite processes take place simultaneously in the Universe: expansion and contraction. However, heagreed with the opinion of most scientists about the stationarity of the Universe, so he introduced the concept of the cosmic repulsive force. Its effect is designed to balance the attraction of the stars and stop the process of movement of all celestial bodies in order to maintain the static nature of the Universe.
The model of the Universe - according to Einstein - has a certain size, but there are no boundaries. Such a combination is feasible only when space is curved in the same way as it happens in a sphere.
The characteristics of the space of such a model are:
- Three-dimensional.
- Closing itself.
- Homogeneity (lack of center and edge), in which galaxies are evenly distributed.
A. A. Friedman: The Universe is expanding
The creator of the revolutionary expanding model of the Universe, A. A. Fridman (USSR) built his theory on the basis of the equations characterizing the general theory of relativity. True, the generally accepted opinion in the scientific world of that time was the static nature of our world, so due attention was not paid to his work.
A few years later, astronomer Edwin Hubble made a discovery that confirmed Friedman's ideas. The removal of galaxies from the nearby Milky Way has been discovered. At the same time, the fact that the speed of their movement is proportional to the distance between them and our galaxy has become irrefutable.
This discovery explains the constant "retreat" of stars and galaxies in relation to each other, which leads to the conclusion aboutexpansion of the universe.
Finally, Friedman's conclusions were recognized by Einstein, later he mentioned the merits of the Soviet scientist as the founder of the hypothesis of the expansion of the Universe.
It cannot be said that there are contradictions between this theory and the general theory of relativity, however, with the expansion of the Universe, there must have been an initial impulse that provoked the scattering of stars. By analogy with the explosion, the idea was called the "Big Bang".
Stephen Hawking and the Anthropic Principle
The result of Stephen Hawking's calculations and discoveries was the anthropocentric theory of the origin of the Universe. Its creator claims that the existence of a planet so well prepared for human life cannot be accidental.
Stephen Hawking's theory of the origin of the universe also provides for the gradual evaporation of black holes, their loss of energy and the emission of Hawking radiation.
As a result of the search for evidence, more than 40 characteristics were identified and verified, the observance of which is necessary for the development of civilization. The American astrophysicist Hugh Ross estimated the probability of such an unintentional coincidence. The result was the number 10-53.
Our universe includes a trillion galaxies, 100 billion stars each. According to scientists' calculations, the total number of planets should be 1020. This figure is 33 orders of magnitude smaller than the previously calculated one. Therefore, none of the planets in all galaxies can combine conditions that would be suitable for spontaneous formation.life.
The Big Bang Theory: The emergence of the Universe from a negligible particle
Scientists who support the big bang theory share the hypothesis that the universe is the result of a grand bang. The main postulate of the theory is the assertion that before this event, all the elements of the current Universe were enclosed in a particle that had microscopic dimensions. While inside it, the elements were characterized by a singular state in which such indicators as temperature, density and pressure could not be measured. They are endless. Matter and energy in this state are not affected by the laws of physics.
The cause of the explosion, which occurred 15 billion years ago, is called the instability that arose inside the particle. Scattered tiny elements marked the beginning of the world that we know today.
In the beginning, the Universe was a nebula formed by tiny particles (smaller than an atom). Then, when combined, they formed atoms, which served as the basis of stellar galaxies. Answering questions about what happened before the explosion, as well as what caused it, are the most important tasks of this theory of the origin of the Universe.
The table schematically depicts the stages of the formation of the universe after the big bang.
| The State of the Universe | Timeline | Expected temperature |
| Expansion (inflation) | From 10-45to10-37 seconds | More1026K |
| Quarks and electrons appear | 10-6 c | Over 1013 K |
| Protons and neutrons are formed | 10-5 c | 1012K |
| Helium, deuterium and lithium nuclei are formed | From 10-4 from to 3 min | From 1011 to 109 K |
| Atoms formed | 400 thousand years | 4000 K |
| Gas cloud continues to expand | 15 million years | 300 K |
| The first stars and galaxies are born | 1 billion years | 20 K |
| Explosions of stars provoke the formation of heavy nuclei | 3 billion years | 10 K |
| The process of birth of stars stops | 10-15 billion years | 3 K |
| Energy of all stars is depleted | 1014 years | 10-2 K |
| Black holes are depleted and elementary particles are born | 1040 years | -20 K |
| Evaporation of all black holes ends | 10100 years | From 10-60 to 10-40 K |
As it follows from the above data, the Universe continues to expand and cool.
The constant increase in the distance between galaxies is the main postulate: what distinguishes the big bang theory. The emergence of the universe in this way can be confirmed by the evidence found. There are also grounds fordenials.
Problematics of the theory
Given that the big bang theory is not proven in practice, it is not surprising that there are several questions that it is not able to answer:
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Singularity. This word denotes the state of the universe, compressed to a single point. The problem of the big bang theory is the impossibility of describing the processes occurring in matter and space in such a state. The general law of relativity does not apply here, so it is impossible to make a mathematical description and equations for modeling.
The fundamental impossibility of obtaining an answer to the question about the initial state of the Universe discredits the theory from the very beginning. Her non-fiction expositions tend to gloss over or only mention this complexity in passing. However, for scientists working to provide a mathematical foundation for the big bang theory, this difficulty is recognized as a major obstacle.
- Astronomy. In this area, the big bang theory is faced with the fact that it cannot describe the process of the origin of galaxies. Based on modern versions of theories, it is possible to predict how a homogeneous cloud of gas appears. At the same time, its density by now should be about one atom per cubic meter. To get something more, one cannot do without adjusting the initial state of the Universe. The lack of information and practical experience in this area become serious obstacles to further modeling.
There is also a discrepancy in terms of calculatedthe mass of our galaxy and the data obtained by studying the rate of its attraction to the Andromeda galaxy. Apparently, the weight of our galaxy is ten times greater than previously thought.
Cosmology and quantum physics
Today there are no cosmological theories that would not be based on quantum mechanics. After all, it deals with the description of the behavior of atomic and subatomic particles. The difference between quantum physics and classical physics (expounded by Newton) is that the latter observes and describes material objects, while the former assumes an exclusively mathematical description of the observation and measurement itself. For quantum physics, material values are not the subject of research, here the observer himself is a part of the situation under study.
Based on these features, quantum mechanics has difficulty describing the Universe, because the observer is part of the Universe. However, speaking of the emergence of the universe, it is impossible to imagine outsiders. Attempts to develop a model without the participation of an outside observer were crowned with the quantum theory of the origin of the Universe by J. Wheeler.
Its essence is that at every moment of time there is a splitting of the Universe and the formation of an infinite number of copies. As a result, each of the parallel Universes can be observed, and observers can see all quantum alternatives. At the same time, the original and new worlds are real.
Inflation pattern
The main task that the theory of inflation is designed to solve is becomingsearch for answers to questions left unanswered by the big bang theory and expansion theory. Namely:
- Why is the universe expanding?
- What is the big bang?
To this end, the inflationary theory of the origin of the Universe provides for the extrapolation of the expansion to the zero point in time, the conclusion of the entire mass of the Universe at one point and the formation of a cosmological singularity, which is often referred to as the big bang.
Obvious is the irrelevance of the general theory of relativity, which cannot be applied at this moment. As a result, only theoretical methods, calculations and deductions can be applied to develop a more general theory (or "new physics") and solve the problem of the cosmological singularity.
New alternative theories
Despite the success of the cosmic inflation model, there are scientists who oppose it, calling it untenable. Their main argument is criticism of the solutions proposed by the theory. Opponents argue that the resulting solutions leave some details missing, in other words, instead of solving the problem of initial values, the theory only skillfully drapes them.
Alternative are several exotic theories, the idea of which is based on the formation of initial values before the big bang. New theories of the origin of the universe can be briefly described as follows:
- String theory. Its adherents propose, in addition to the usual four dimensions of space and time, to introduce additional dimensions. They could play a roleearly stages of the Universe, and at the moment be in a compactified state. Answering the question about the reason for their compactification, scientists offer an answer saying that the property of superstrings is T-duality. Therefore, the strings are "wound" on additional dimensions and their size is limited.
- Bran theory. It is also called M-theory. In accordance with its postulates, at the beginning of the formation of the Universe there is a cold static five-dimensional space-time. Four of them (spatial) have restrictions, or walls - three-branes. Our space is one of the walls, and the second is hidden. The third three-brane is located in four-dimensional space, it is limited by two boundary branes. The theory considers a third brane colliding with ours and releasing a large amount of energy. It is these conditions that become favorable for the emergence of a big bang.
Cyclic theories deny the uniqueness of the big bang, claiming that the universe goes from one state to another. The problem with such theories is the increase in entropy, according to the second law of thermodynamics. Consequently, the duration of the previous cycles was shorter, and the temperature of the substance was significantly higher than during the big bang. The likelihood of this happening is extremely low
No matter how many theories there are about the origin of the universe, only two of them have stood the test of time and overcome the problem of ever-increasing entropy. They were developed by scientists Steinhardt-Turok and Baum-Frampton.
These relatively new theories of the origin of the universe were put forward in the 80s of the last century. They have many followers who develop models based on it, look for evidence of validity and work to resolve contradictions.
String theory
One of the most popular among the theory of the origin of the universe is string theory. Before proceeding to the description of her idea, it is necessary to understand the concepts of one of the closest competitors, the standard model. It assumes that matter and interactions can be described as a certain set of particles, divided into several groups:
- Quarks.
- Leptons.
- Bosons.
These particles are, in fact, the building blocks of the universe, since they are so small that they cannot be divided into components.
A distinctive feature of string theory is the assertion that such bricks are not particles, but ultramicroscopic strings that vibrate. At the same time, oscillating at different frequencies, the strings become analogs of various particles described in the standard model.
To understand the theory, one should realize that strings are not any matter, they are energy. Therefore, string theory concludes that all the elements of the universe are made of energy.
Fire is a good analogy. Looking at it gives the impression of its materiality, but it cannot be touched.
Cosmology for schoolchildren
Theories of the origin of the Universe are briefly studied in schools at astronomy lessons. For studentsdescribe the main theories about how our world was formed, what is happening to it now and how it will develop in the future.
The purpose of the lessons is to familiarize children with the nature of the formation of elementary particles, chemical elements and celestial bodies. Theories of the origin of the universe for children are reduced to a presentation of the big bang theory. Teachers use visual material: slides, tables, posters, illustrations. Their main task is to awaken children's interest in the world that surrounds them.
