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What "caused" the big bang?

The answer to both of those questions is "nobody knows".

That said, there are models for the Big Bang in which it was not "caused" at all, but was instead some sort of vacuum fluctuation.

Dr. Stupid
 
Stimpson J. Cat said:
The answer to both of those questions is "nobody knows".
Click to expand...
True. However, my theory is that The Big Bang was preceded by the Big Foreplay (which in turn was preceded by the Big Dinner and Movie).
 
Stimpson J. Cat said:
The answer to both of those questions is "nobody knows".

That said, there are models for the Big Bang in which it was not "caused" at all, but was instead some sort of vacuum fluctuation.

Dr. Stupid
Click to expand...


Ah, that's what I thought. Do you have any information about the models where the big bang was not caused at all?
 
It's like asking, what happened before the Big Bang, which is like asking, what's north of the North Pole?
 
Well, in some versions of quantum theory and information theory, absolutely nothing at all is an unstable equilibrium.

It will stay that way for a while, but eventually a fluctuation will push it into a state of "something".

The testability of such theories is debatable. :D
 
Lord Kenneth said:
I don't know much about this.

What could have "caused" the big bang?

Did it need a cause?
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Given a certain belief there ever was a big bang?
 
You got a different idea?



It's a bit silly to ask what happened before the Big Bang, as the big bang was the beginning of space and time, and asking what happened before would imply that the beginning of time was not, in fact, the beginning of time. The Big Bang theory has no provision to explain what happened before t=0. You would need a completely different theory to fit that.
 
I know it's not what you asked, but sometimes people will justify their belief in a god by reasoning that something must have *caused* the big bang, implying a role for god. The trouble with this reasoning is that this just shifts the unknown one level back, making the question "then what caused god?". I guess from there it's turtles all the way down.
 
RSLancastr said:
True. However, my theory is that The Big Bang was preceded by the Big Foreplay (which in turn was preceded by the Big Dinner and Movie).
Click to expand...

I thought the dinner & movie was foreplay?? :confused:
 
Lord Kenneth said:



Ah, that's what I thought. Do you have any information about the models where the big bang was not caused at all?
Click to expand...

There's a book called, "Time travel in Einstein's Universe" which discusses some of these models in detail. It's a heady book, but the author eases you into it, and if you can plod through it, it's fascinating.

He discusses the Rhindler (SP?) Vacuum, which is a unique kind of vacuum which has, I believe positive pressure and energy.

Even more fascinating to me is the idea that the universe created itself. He discusses the idea of a recusive universe in which the big bang begins multiple universes following different branches but due to a quirk of space time one of the branches curves back on itself to merge into the beginning of the universe again, effectively becoming its own parent.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/103-8813691-1564635?v=glance&s=books

I just realized that if you look very closely at the cover of the book, you can see a visualization of the model I discussed above. Note the loop at the bottom.
 
If people can say that God didn't need a cause, I guess others can say that the Big Bang didn't need a cause.
 
Bah, I like to think the Big Bang is nothing but a normal occurrence that happens all the time. 12 billion years or however old the universe is might be an eye blink compared to the age of existence, and time might lose its meaning entirely when we're dealing with infinite density and infinite energy, so perhaps existence is in a state of constant repetition. Our universe might be one in billions of billions, or an infinity of universes. Who knows? Let's abandon our assumptions and base ourselves on hard data, and right now our data simply says we don't know where the universe comes from. Why fill in this blank with blind faith and religion when we can simply say WE DON'T KNOW. I'm perfectly fine with that.
 
I was thinking, the really Big Bowl of Beans!

There is also the theory that it was the Not So Hot bang, Guth in the book on inflation talks about how inflating universes just naturaly spawn other infalting universes.

Why ask Why? It is better to ask What?
 
Andonyx said:


There's a book called, "Time travel in Einstein's Universe" which discusses some of these models in detail. It's a heady book, but the author eases you into it, and if you can plod through it, it's fascinating.

He discusses the Rhindler (SP?) Vacuum, which is a unique kind of vacuum which has, I believe positive pressure and energy.

Even more fascinating to me is the idea that the universe created itself. He discusses the idea of a recusive universe in which the big bang begins multiple universes following different branches but due to a quirk of space time one of the branches curves back on itself to merge into the beginning of the universe again, effectively becoming its own parent.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/103-8813691-1564635?v=glance&s=books

I just realized that if you look very closely at the cover of the book, you can see a visualization of the model I discussed above. Note the loop at the bottom.
Click to expand...

So the big bang could be the big crunch, and it's all a matter of perspective? Sweet!
 
I don't understand how anything could have escaped. Wouldn't the early universe just have been a super jigantic massive black hole?
 
repairman said:
I don't understand how anything could have escaped. Wouldn't the early universe just have been a super jigantic massive black hole?
Click to expand...

Yes probably but even black holes leak. Surely they have a certain limit.
 
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