Theories from the edge. In the zoo of science

Boundary science is understood in at least two ways. First, as sound science, but outside the mainstream and paradigm. Secondly, like all theories and hypotheses that have little in common with science.

The Big Bang theory also once belonged to the field of minor science. He was the first to speak his words in the 40s. Fred Hoyle, the founder of the theory of stellar evolution. He did this in a radio broadcast (1), but in derision, with the intention of ridiculing the whole concept. And this one was born when it was discovered that galaxies "run away" from each other. This led the researchers to the idea that if the universe is expanding, then at some point it had to start. This belief formed the basis of the currently dominant and universally undeniable Big Bang theory. The expansion mechanism, in turn, is explained by another, also currently not disputed by most scientists. inflation theory. In the Oxford Dictionary of Astronomy we can read that the Big Bang theory is: “The most widely accepted theory to explain the origin and evolution of the universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe, which emerged from a singularity (an initial state of high temperature and density), expands from this point.”

Against "scientific exclusion"

However, not everyone, even in the scientific community, is satisfied with this state of affairs. In a letter signed a few years ago by more than XNUMX scientists from all over the world, including Poland, we read, in particular, that the "Big Bang is based" on an ever-growing number of hypothetical entities: cosmological inflation, non-polar matter. (dark matter) and dark energy. (…) Contradictions between observations and predictions of the Big Bang theory are resolved by adding such entities. Creatures that cannot or have not been observed. … In any other branch of science, the recurring need for such objects would at least raise serious questions about the validity of the underlying theory – if that theory failed because of its imperfection. »

“This theory,” the scientists write, “requires a violation of two well-established laws of physics: the principle of conservation of energy and conservation of baryon number (stating that equal amounts of matter and antimatter are composed of energy). “

Conclusion? “(…) The Big Bang theory is not the only basis available for describing the history of the universe. There are also alternative explanations for fundamental phenomena in space., including: the abundance of light elements, the formation of giant structures, the background radiation explanation, and the Hubble connection. Until today, such issues and alternative solutions cannot be freely discussed and tested. The open exchange of ideas is what is most lacking at large conferences. … This reflects a growing dogmatism of thought, alien to the spirit of free scientific inquiry. This can't be a healthy situation."

Perhaps then theories that cast doubt on the Big Bang, although relegated to the peripheral zone, should, for serious scientific reasons, be protected from "scientific exclusion."

What physicists swept under the rug

All cosmological theories that rule out the Big Bang usually eliminate the vexing problem of dark energy, transform constants such as the speed of light and time into variables, and seek to unify the interactions of time and space. A typical example of recent years is a proposal by physicists from Taiwan. In their model, this is quite troublesome from the point of view of many researchers. dark energy disappears. Therefore, unfortunately, one has to assume that the Universe has neither a beginning nor an end. The lead author of this model, Wun-Ji Szu of National Taiwan University, describes time and space not as separate but as closely related elements that can be interchanged with each other. Neither the speed of light nor the gravitational constant in this model are constant, but are factors in the transformation of time and mass into size and space as the universe expands.

Shu's theory can be considered a fantasy, but the model of an expanding universe with an excess of dark energy that causes it to expand raises serious problems. Some note that with the help of this theory, scientists "replaced under the carpet" the physical law of conservation of energy. The Taiwanese concept does not violate the principles of conservation of energy, but in turn has a problem with microwave background radiation, which is considered a remnant of the Big Bang.

Last year, the speech of two physicists from Egypt and Canada became known, and based on new calculations, they developed another, very interesting theory. According to them The universe has always existed - There was no Big Bang. Based on quantum physics, this theory seems all the more attractive because it solves the problem of dark matter and dark energy in one fell swoop.

2. Visualization of a quantum fluid

Ahmed Farag Ali from Zewail City of Science and Technology and Saurya Das from the University of Lethbridge tried it. combine quantum mechanics with general relativity. They used an equation developed by Prof. Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri of the University of Calcutta, which makes it possible to predict the development of singularities in general relativity. However, after several corrections, they noticed that in fact it describes a “liquid”, consisting of countless tiny particles, which, as it were, fills the entire space. For a long time, attempts to solve the problem of gravity lead us to the hypothetical gravitons are the particles generating this interaction. According to Das and Ali, it is these particles that can form this quantum "fluid" (2). With the help of their equation, physicists traced the path of the “fluid” into the past and it turned out that there really was no singularity that was troublesome for physics 13,8 million years ago, but The universe seems to exist forever. In the past, it was admittedly smaller, but it has never been compressed to the previously proposed infinitesimal point in space..

The new model could also explain the existence of dark energy, which is expected to fuel the expansion of the universe by creating negative pressure within it. Here, the "fluid" itself creates a small force that expands the space, directed outward, into the Universe. And this is not the end, because the determination of the mass of the graviton in this model allowed us to explain another mystery - dark matter - which is supposed to have a gravitational effect on the entire Universe, while remaining invisible. Simply put, the “quantum liquid” itself is dark matter.

3. Image of cosmic background radiation from WMAP

We have a huge number of models

In the second half of the last decade, the philosopher Michal Tempczyk stated with disgust that "The empirical content of cosmological theories is sparse, they predict few facts and are based on a small amount of observational data.". Each cosmological model is empirically equivalent, i.e. based on the same data. The criterion must be theoretical. We now have more observational data than we used to, but the cosmological information base hasn't drastically increased - here we can cite data from the WMAP satellite (3) and the Planck satellite (4).

Howard Robertson and Geoffrey Walker independently formed metric for an expanding universe. Solutions to the Friedmann equation, together with the Robertson-Walker metric, form the so-called FLRW Model (Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker metric). Modified over time and supplemented, it has the status of a standard model of cosmology. This model performed best with subsequent empirical data.

Of course, many more models have been created. Created in the 30s Arthur Milne's cosmological model, based on his kinematic theory of relativity. It was supposed to compete with Einstein's general theory of relativity and relativistic cosmology, but Milne's predictions turned out to be reduced to one of the solutions of Einstein's field equations (EFE).

4 Planck Space Telescope

Also at this time, Richard Tolman, the founder of relativistic thermodynamics, presented his model of the universe - later his approach was generalized and the so-called LTB model (Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi). It was an inhomogeneous model with a large number of degrees of freedom and therefore a low degree of symmetry.

Strong competition for the FLRW model, and now for its expansion, ZhKM model, which also includes lambda, the so-called cosmological constant responsible for accelerating the expansion of the universe and for cold dark matter. It is a kind of non-Newtonian cosmology that has been put on hold by the inability to cope with the discovery of cosmic background radiation (CBR) and quasars. The emergence of matter from nothing, proposed by this model, was also opposed, although there was a mathematically convincing justification.

Perhaps the most famous model of quantum cosmology is Hawking and Hartle's Infinite Universe Model. This included treating the entire cosmos as something that could be described by a wave function. With growth superstring theory attempts were made to build a cosmological model on its basis. The most famous models were based on a more general version of string theory, the so-called My theories. For example, you can replace model Randall-Sandrum.

5. Multiversal vision

Multiverse

Another example in a long series of frontier theories is the concept of the Multiverse (5), based on the collision of bran-universes. It is said that this collision results in an explosion and the transformation of the energy of the explosion into hot radiation. The inclusion of dark energy in this model, which was also used for some time in the theory of inflation, made it possible to construct a cyclic model (6), the ideas of which, for example, in the form of a pulsating universe, were repeatedly rejected earlier.

6. Visualization of the oscillating cyclic universe

The authors of this theory, also known as the cosmic fire model or the expirotic model (from the Greek ekpyrosis - "world fire"), or the Great Crash Theory, are scientists from the universities of Cambridge and Princeton - Paul Steinhardt and Neil Turok. According to them, in the beginning space was an empty and cold place. There was no time, no energy, no matter. Only the collision of two flat universes located next to each other initiated the "great fire". The energy that then emerged caused the Big Bang. The authors of this theory also explain the current expansion of the universe. The theory of the Great Crash suggests that the universe owes its current form to the collision of the so-called one on which it is located, with the other, and the transformation of the energy of the collision into matter. It was as a result of the collision of a neighboring double with ours that the matter known to us was formed and our Universe began to expand.. Perhaps the cycle of such collisions is endless.

The Great Crash theory has been endorsed by a group of renowned cosmologists, including Stephen Hawking and Jim Peebles, one of the discoverers of the CMB. The results of the Planck mission are consistent with some of the predictions of the cyclic model.

Although such concepts already existed in antiquity, the term "Multiverse" most commonly used today was coined in December 1960 by Andy Nimmo, then Vice President of the Scottish Chapter of the British Interplanetary Society. The term has been used both correctly and incorrectly for several years. In the late 60s, science fiction writer Michael Moorcock called it the collection of all worlds. After reading one of his novels, physicist David Deutsch used it in this sense in his scientific work (including the development of the quantum theory of many worlds by Hugh Everett) dealing with the totality of all possible universes - contrary to Andy Nimmo's original definition. After this work was published, the word spread among other scientists. So now "universe" means one world that is governed by certain laws, and "multiverse" is a hypothetical collection of all universes.

7. The hypothetical number of universes present in the multiverse.

In the universes of this “quantum multiverse”, completely different laws of physics may operate. Astrophysicist cosmologists at Stanford University in California have calculated that there could be 1010 such universes, with the power of 10 being raised to the power of 10, which in turn is raised to the power of 7 (7). And this number cannot be written in decimal form due to the number of zeros exceeding the number of atoms in the observable universe, estimated at 1080.

A decaying vacuum

In the early 80s, the so-called inflationary cosmology Alan Guth, American physicist, specialist in the field of elementary particles. To explain some of the observational difficulties in the FLRW model, she introduced an additional period of rapid expansion into the standard model after crossing the Planck threshold (10–33 seconds after the Big Bang). Guth in 1979, while working on the equations describing the early existence of the universe, noticed something strange - a false vacuum. It differed from our knowledge of vacuum in that, for example, it was not empty. Rather, it was a material, a powerful force capable of igniting the entire universe.

Imagine a round piece of cheese. Let it be ours false vacuum before the big bang. It has the amazing property of what we call "repulsive gravity." It is a force so powerful that a vacuum can expand from the size of an atom to the size of a galaxy in a fraction of a second. On the other hand, it can decay like radioactive material. When part of the vacuum breaks down, it creates an expanding bubble, a bit like holes in Swiss cheese. In such a bubble-hole, a false vacuum is created - extremely hot and densely packed particles. Then they explode, which is the Big Bang that creates our universe.

The important thing that the Russian-born physicist Alexander Vilenkin realized in the early 80s was that there was no void subject to the decay in question. “These bubbles are expanding very quickly,” says Vilenkin, “but the space between them is expanding even faster, making room for new bubbles.” It means that Once cosmic inflation has begun, it never stops, and each subsequent bubble contains the raw material for the next Big Bang. Thus, our universe may be just one of an infinite number of universes constantly emerging in an ever-expanding false vacuum.. In other words, it could be real earthquake of the universes.

A few months ago, ESA's Planck Space Telescope observed "at the edge of the universe" mysterious brighter dots that some scientists believe could be traces of our interaction with another universe. For example, says Ranga-Ram Chari, one of the researchers analyzing data coming from the observatory at the California center. He noticed strange bright spots in the cosmic background light (CMB) mapped by the Planck telescope. The theory is that there is a multiverse in which "bubbles" of universes are growing rapidly, fueled by inflation. If the seed bubbles are adjacent, then at the beginning of their expansion, interaction is possible, hypothetical "collisions", the consequences of which we should see in the traces of the cosmic microwave background radiation of the early Universe.

Chari thinks he found such footprints. Through careful and lengthy analysis, he found regions in the CMB that are 4500 times brighter than the background radiation theory suggests. One possible explanation for this excess of protons and electrons is contact with another universe. Of course, this hypothesis has not yet been confirmed. Scientists are careful.

There are only corners

Another item on our program of visiting a kind of space zoo, full of theories and reasoning about the creation of the Universe, will be the hypothesis of the outstanding British physicist, mathematician and philosopher Roger Penrose. Strictly speaking, this is not a quantum theory, but it has some of its elements. The very name of the theory conformal cyclic cosmology () - contains the main components of the quantum. These include conformal geometry, which operates exclusively with the concept of angle, rejecting the question of distance. Large and small triangles are indistinguishable in this system if they have the same angles between the sides. Straight lines are indistinguishable from circles.

In Einstein's four-dimensional space-time, in addition to three dimensions, there is also time. Conformal geometry even dispenses with it. And this fits perfectly with the quantum theory that time and space can be an illusion of our senses. So we only have corners, or rather light cones, i.e. surfaces on which radiation propagates. The speed of light is also precisely determined, because we are talking about photons. Mathematically, this limited geometry is sufficient to describe physics, unless it deals with mass objects. And the Universe after the Big Bang consisted only of high-energy particles, which were actually radiation. Nearly 100% of their mass was converted into energy in accordance with Einstein's basic formula E = mc².

So, neglecting the mass, with the help of conformal geometry, we can show the very process of the creation of the Universe and even some period before this creation. You just need to take into account the gravity that occurs in a state of minimum entropy, i.e. to a high degree of order. Then the feature of the Big Bang disappears, and the beginning of the Universe appears simply as a regular boundary of some space-time.

8. Vision of a hypothetical white hole

From hole to hole, or Cosmic metabolism

Exotic theories predict the existence of exotic objects, i.e. white holes (8) are hypothetical opposites of black holes. The first problem was mentioned at the beginning of Fred Hoyle's book. The theory is that a white hole must be a region where energy and matter flow out of a singularity. Previous studies have not confirmed the existence of white holes, although some researchers believe that the example of the emergence of the universe, that is, the Big Bang, could actually be an example of just such a phenomenon.

By definition, a white hole throws out what a black hole absorbs. The only condition would be to bring the black and white holes closer to each other and create a tunnel between them. The existence of such a tunnel was assumed as early as 1921. It was called the bridge, then it was called Einstein-Rosen bridge, named after the scientists who performed the mathematical calculations describing this hypothetical creation. In later years it was called wormhole, known in English by the more peculiar name "wormhole".

After the discovery of quasars, it was suggested that the violent emission of energy associated with these objects could be the result of a white hole. Despite many theoretical considerations, most astronomers did not take this theory seriously. The main disadvantage of all white hole models developed so far is that there must be some kind of formation around them. very strong gravitational field. Calculations show that when something falls into a white hole, it should receive a powerful release of energy.

However, astute calculations by scientists claim that even if white holes, and therefore wormholes, existed, they would be highly unstable. Strictly speaking, matter would not be able to pass through this "wormhole", because it would quickly disintegrate. And even if the body could get into another, parallel universe, it would enter it in the form of particles, which, perhaps, could become material for a new, different world. Some scientists even argue that the Big Bang, which was supposed to give birth to our Universe, was precisely the result of the discovery of a white hole.

quantum holograms

It offers a lot of exoticism in theories and hypotheses. the quantum physics. Since its inception, it has provided a number of alternative interpretations to the so-called Copenhagen School. Ideas about a pilot wave or vacuum as an active energy-information matrix of reality, laid aside many years ago, functioned on the periphery of science, and sometimes a little beyond. However, in recent times they have gained a lot of vitality.

For example, you build alternative scenarios for the development of the Universe, assuming a variable speed of light, the value of Planck's constant, or create variations on the theme of gravity. The law of universal gravitation is being revolutionized, for example, by suspicions that Newton's equations do not work at large distances, and the number of dimensions must depend on the current size of the universe (and increase with its growth). Time is denied by reality in some concepts, and multidimensional space in others.

The best known quantum alternatives are Concepts by David Bohm (nine). His theory assumes that the state of a physical system depends on the wave function given in the configuration space of the system, and the system itself at any time is in one of the possible configurations (which are the positions of all particles in the system or the states of all physical fields). The latter assumption does not exist in the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics, which assumes that until the moment of measurement, the state of the system is given only by the wave function, which leads to a paradox (the so-called Schrödinger's cat paradox). The evolution of the system configuration depends on the wave function through the so-called pilot wave equation. The theory was developed by Louis de Broglie and then rediscovered and improved by Bohm. The de Broglie-Bohm theory is frankly non-local because the pilot wave equation shows that the speed of each particle still depends on the position of all particles in the universe. Since other known laws of physics are local, and non-local interactions combined with relativity lead to causal paradoxes, many physicists find this unacceptable.

10. Space hologram

In 1970, Bohm introduced far-reaching vision of the universe-hologram (10), according to which, as in a hologram, each part contains information about the whole. According to this concept, vacuum is not only a reservoir of energy, but also an extremely complex information system containing a holographic record of the material world.

In 1998, Harold Puthoff, along with Bernard Heisch and Alphonse Rueda, introduced a competitor to quantum electrodynamics - stochastic electrodynamics (SED). Vacuum in this concept is a reservoir of turbulent energy, which generates virtual particles constantly appearing and disappearing. They collide with real particles, returning their energy, which in turn causes constant changes in their position and energy, which are perceived as quantum uncertainty.

The wave interpretation was formulated back in 1957 by the already mentioned Everett. In this interpretation, it makes sense to speak of the state vector for the entire universe. This vector never collapses, so reality remains strictly deterministic. However, this is not the reality we usually think of, but a composition of many worlds. The state vector is broken down into a set of states representing mutually unobservable universes, with each world having a specific dimension and statistical law.

The main assumptions at the starting point of this interpretation are as follows:

• postulate about the mathematical nature of the world – the real world or any isolated part of it can be represented by a set of mathematical objects;
• postulate about the decomposition of the world – the world can be considered as a system plus apparatus.

It should be added that the adjective "quantum" has appeared for some time in New Age literature and modern mysticism.. For example, the renowned physician Deepak Chopra (11) promoted a concept he calls quantum healing, suggesting that with sufficient mental strength, we can cure all diseases.

According to Chopra, this profound conclusion can be drawn from quantum physics, which he says has shown that the physical world, including our bodies, is the reaction of the observer. We create our bodies in the same way that we create the experience of our world. Chopra also states that "beliefs, thoughts, and emotions trigger life-sustaining chemical reactions in every cell" and that "the world we live in, including the experience of our bodies, is entirely determined by how we learn to perceive it." So sickness and aging are just an illusion. Through the sheer power of consciousness, we can achieve what Chopra calls "forever young body, forever young mind."

However, there is still no conclusive argument or evidence that quantum mechanics plays a central role in human consciousness or that it provides direct, holistic connections throughout the universe. Modern physics, including quantum mechanics, remains completely materialistic and reductionist, and at the same time compatible with all scientific observations.