If the universe is infinite in size how does that fit with the Big Bang?

Question

You would need an infinite rate of expansion but currently the rate of expansion seems quite finite. Did the inflation period include a moment where there was an infinite expansion? And even then any finite amount of matter would be stretched, on average, infinitely thin. An infinite universe seems quite problematic to me. What do you with your superior knowledge of physics say?

Answer 1

Quote:

-// "The Big Bang is not in question. What's in question here is how could the universe be infinite when all space and time was contracted into a single point in the distant past?" //-



Saying the BB is not in question; limits your options, the reconciliation is yours to find.

(why give yourself needless restrictions?)

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Saying " all space and time was contracted into a single point in the past " would indeed appear to negate the possibility of an infinite Universe, but there is a way round this :

You could say: the past point is infinitely small, expanding to infinitely large : of course this would indicate the infinitely small, is still and will always become infinitely smaller, and the infinitely large is still becoming infinitely larger, for eternity.

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To say The Big Bang theory is not questionable; is a mistake, soon BB will either be replaced or be reformed beyond current recognition.

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"All advancements are advanced upon".

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You must keep an open mind : those of closed mind are : "sticks in the mud".



There can be only one truth : whether that truth rejects or embraces BB should not be a concern.



All the best.

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Answer 2

I don't see any conflict between an infinite universe and the the big bang model and equations. An infinite universe does NOT need an infinite rate of expansion. You could have (for example) an infinite universe where large distances expand by a factor of two every 14 billion years. Two times infinity is still infinity.



Neither does the theory require that the all space and time be contracted into a single point in the distant past. It only requires that the observable universe started with a "single point" (actually, it requires only that the observable universe started at some size around a few Planck lengths, not a mathematical point.) If the universe is infinite, the observable universe would be an minor part of the whole.



At the time of the original Big Bang, the observable universe was very dense, and the observable universe was very small. Since then, the observable universe has become much less dense, and much larger. The theory doesn't say anything about things outside the observable universe -- no scientific theory can say anything about things out there.



If something outside the observable universe can have an effect on the observable universe, then that very effect means that the thing is part of the observable universe, and therefore is not outside of it. And if something outside the observable universe can NOT have an effect on the observable universe, then it is outside the scope of any scientific theory. You might as well say that it's all invisible pink unicorns.

Answer 3

Wow. There's a lot of bad answers here. I'm so sorry.



From all our current measurements, the universe does indeed seem infinite. The universe does not curve back on itself but is flat according to CMB measurements.



So how can you have an infinite universe that started with the Big Bang. The answer is that the Big Bang was also infinite. The Big Bang did not happen at a single point in space. It happened at all points in space because it created space itself. All of our observations confirm this. The location of the Big Bang was therefore throughout an infinite space. So how does the universe expand if it started as infinite and is now infinite? You have to realize that infinity is a tricky thing and is not a simple number like 3. For instance, 2 times infinity is just infinity. Therefore an infinite universe can expand to be a bigger infinite universe. This is possible because that universe is not expanding *into* space. Space itself is what is doing the expanding.

Answer 4

The Big Bang THEORY was developed to explain creation. It is a theory by those who deny biblical creation. For those that deny and assume themselves wise, they must if wise come up with an alternate theory. Thus the big bang theory.



The universe is indeed infinite and never ending. There was a comment in there that if a belief is held that something is infinite then we must give proof. Someone finite can not give proof of an infinite universe because being finite (limited) we cannot prove the limitless as we neither created it or saw it. This is not proof that it does not exist just because you cannot see it. If you look at your chest you cannot see that you have a heart because it is beyond your view naturally. Though you know you have one because medical science has shown it. And if you still dont believe you can go get an xray. We also cannot see beyond the limits of the strongest telescopes. So does that mean that the universe stops where technology allows us to see. Technology increases to allow us to discover and understand new things each day. The things yet to be discovered but discovered in ten years were always there and always unchangeable fact but we eventually discover fact and leave all those useless theories behind.



I recommend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOkUM2BQpmI (Big problems with the Big Bang)



Other titles on youtube Evolution vs God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0u3-2CGOMQ

and Nature singing to God (a talk on the universe) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB835wkz1Tc

Answer 5

Well, ..., the universe is finite.



1) The Universe is finite.

It started off with finite mass and energy. It neither creates new mass or destroys the old mass. Nor does it create or destroy energy. Even though it is currently expanding that expansion will one day stop and the universe will come to an end. The universe held no control over it's inception and creation, has no control over it's current state and cannot control it's future demise. In fact the Universe is running out of time.



I know it's an unpopular concept to grasp but the universe is finite in energy, mass, and life cycle and that's all there is to it. See the links below:



2) There is no evidence for the existence other universes.

No matter how many times it occurs in science fiction there is not one shred of evidence for the existence of other universes. We can only observe about 3% to 4% of our own universe so we still have about 96% left to explore of this universe alone. Again, I know it's an unpopular thought but this universe is all we have and certainly the only one that you or I will ever know and as I mentioned before even it is doomed.



3) Edge of the Universe

Now the edge of the current universe is difficult at best to describe. First none one has ever observed it and it's unlikely that we ever will. There is a 300,000 light year thick bow shock of big bag that we'll never be able to peer through blocking the edge of the universe in all directions. My friends who are cosmologists tell e that the edge is a 9th dimensional structure that, you as a 3 dimensional being could never traverse. Think of it like this, it would be like your shadow suddenly picking itself up off the curb, stand up vertically and walk away as you stood still and watched it. Of course that's impossible, it's a 2 dimensional ties to a 3 dimensional structure. In the same way you could never traverse the edge of the universe as you ar 3 dimensional structure defined by a 9 dimensional structure. Comparatively speaking your just part of the Universes shadow! I do agree with you though its not a wall. Rather, it is something much more complex.



4) Expansion of the Universe

The Universe is expanding at the rate of 74.2 ±3.6 kilometers/second/megaparsec. So what's a megaparsec? Well it's roughly 3,000,000 light years. So, for every 3,000,000 light years that you travel the universe is expanding at 74.2 ±3.6 kilometers/second ... and that's how it works.



Dark energy is the force that appears to be accelerating expansion of the universe. We don't understand what dark energy is (our understanding of it's properties is darkened) but we can see that objects near certain energy sources appear to be moving away from that source this indicates that the Universe is (on the whole) expanding.



Even though our Universe is expanding, our universe is finite. It has a finite mass, a finite amount of energy, and at this very second finite boundaries. Just because our universe is expanding doesn't mean that it is infinite; it simply means that it is expanding. However, when you look on in the whole, it's not gaining more mass or more energy rather it all just becomes more diffuse over a larger distance.



Think of pouring a glass of water onto a table. The puddle continues to expand yet it maintains the same about of mass and energy it had as when you dumped it onto the table. It just becomes more diffuse as it's area grows. The same holds true for the universe. So, as you can see, the universe though huge and expanding is quite finite.



5) Causality as proof against the infinite nature of the universe.

So if Big Bang initiated an unbroken chain of causal events that lead to the formation of the earth, life on this planet, and eventually you. Then that set of of events (though very large) must be a finite set of events. If it was an infinite set of events you would be as yet undefined. However, since you and are both here discussing the nature of the universe the set of all causal events is large but finite. Thus, the universe is finite.



Source

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olbers'_paradox

Answer 6

It fits perfectly, expand infinity and you still have infinity. Nothing says that an infinite Universe requires infinite expansion and there was no singularity, that's just a typical extrapolation of General Relativity at a point where we know it does not apply. You're having difficulty imagining it because you are thinking of a single pint in space whereas it's the entire Universe, it isn't in anything, everything is in it. Everything was contracted to the point where everything was as if they were at a single point but it was not a point, it was the Universe, if the Universe is infinite, it would also have been infinite when contracted.

Answer 7

I don't see why you are having so much trouble with this, given the number of answers explaining it. You've asked us, if 2+2=5, how does that fit with 5-2=3? And you've repeatedly been told that 2+2 does not equal 5.



Evidence does not point to an infinite universe, so how can that fit with a theory formulated to describe the evidence?

Answer 8

It does not work at all, it is quite well established that the universe is finite and unbounded. The theory would not work at all if the universe were infinite. In fact nothing is infinite, it is just an abstract mathematical concept.

Answer 9

Your assumption that the Universe is infinite is itself wrong. From the work of a German astronomer, Heinrich Olbers, we have known for 200 years that it cannot be so. By definition, an infinite Universe has to be static, and observation tells us that it is far from static but, rather, is expanding in all directions. An expanding and therefore finite Universe is one of the strongest arguments IN FAVOR of the Big Bang Theory. To assume that the situation is materially different outside the Observable Universe supposes that somehow we are in a special position in the Universe. The only people who believe that are religious fundamentalists. Wherever we look in the Universe, we see it to be homogeneous and isotropic and we have absolutely no reason to suspect it may be different outside the bubble that we can see, which is at least 93billion light years in diameter. Very, very big yes, but not infinite.

Answer 10

Wouldn't you need to demonstrate that an infinite universe is actually possible, before you use it as an argument against the Big Bang?



Until any evidence appears to suggest the universe is indeed infinite, I'm not sure why you would pose this question. The universe is almost decidedly finite and unbounded.

Answer 11

Infinite is a matter of mind and measurement. It probably cannot exist in the real word. It would not exist in our own minds without a tool incapable of measuring it. So long as the correct tool doesn't exist to measure incomprehensibly large or small distances we will conveniently call it infinity at will. Much of modern astrophysics is predicated on the logically unsound assumption that infinity can exist in the physical world without God.

Answer 12

How do you know that the universe wasn't infinite in size BEFORE the big bang?

Answer 13

The universe's size is currently unknown. Expansion is accelerating to speeds faster than the speed of light.

Answer 14

The Universe has a finite size, it curves back on itself in a dimension you cannot see. It continues to expand (and at an accelerating rate). If this continues then yes - everything will be torn apart to leave isolated quarks floating in the void.

Answer 15

Big Bang is just a theory and we just even don't know our own galaxy the milky way. So we cant say universe is infinite or finite. And the fact that big bang is just a blast thousand times the milky way and same way like a supernova and a hyper nova which creates black hole and is replaced by nothing but a place where gravity pules cosmos dust to form a star.

Answer 16

Your question suffers from many if's and but's, however, if you read my theory, given below, all is explained. Read and enjoy.