Explanation for the Origins of the Universe

Most of the elements on the periodic table are found in nature, but some bigger and heavier atoms are not. While lighter elements can be formed via supernova, these are too heavy and unstable to naturally occur. Generally speaking, once reaching the upper Actinides, elements are too unstable to occur on their own, and are thus prepared in a laboratory settings. There are multiple methods through which this can be completed, but one of the most common is through particle acceleration.

Scientists speed up atoms of two elements, then force them to collide to create a new, larger element. For example, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory thrust together a calcium atom and a berkelium atom to create element 117, now called Tennessine. Unstable elements like Tennessine are incredibly unstable, and disappear within seconds, making them difficult to study.

The Big Bang is the leading theory describing the creation of the universe. The theory goes back to 13.8 billion years, when the entire universe a miniscule singularity, a fraction of the size of an atom.

The came the bang. Essentially, all of space and time began with the one moment, and the entire universe began to rapidly expand. In the first fraction of a fraction of a nanosecond, researchers estimate that the universe expanded to 90 times its original size. This process, named inflation, continued after this period of quick expansion, albeit at a slower rate. Moving on, the universe gradually cooled, and materials needed for light appeared around 3 minutes after the bang. As the universe continued to cool, protons and neutrons joined to form deuterium, a hydrogen isotope.

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Deuterium would later form helium atoms. But in these early stages, the universe was so hot that light could not shine, as photons were unable to travel amidst violently crashing protons, electrons, and neutrons.

Approximately 380,00 years after the Big Bang, the universe had chilled enough so that electrons could bond with nuclei and create the first neutral atoms. With this out of the way,

The universe could now host light, and thus became transparent. About 400 million years after the Big Bang, the cosmic dark ages ceased and the reionization era commenced. In the next half-billion years, gas clumped together to form early galaxies and stars. This process produced ultraviolet rays that destroyed neutral hydrogen gas, and in conjunction with reionization allowed ultraviolet light to pierce the newly transparent universe.

In many ways, the Big Bang theory provides a convenient explanation for the origins of the universe. First, the Big Bang theory speaks of a rapid expansion and then slower but continuous expansion of the universe, called inflation. Astronomers have consistently viewed this phenomenon, and the Big bang provides an explanation as to why it is occurring. Additionally, astronomers have long observed that the universe cools as it ages and spreads out. This plays right into the Big bang theory, as it stipulates that the original singularity was obscenely hot, and as inflation occured that temperature decreased. Furthermore, the Big Bang theory explain why cosmic microwave background exists. As cosmic microwave background are he remnants of the Big Bang event, the theory only clarifies why they are present.

Despite its convenient explanation, the Big Bang theory raises more questions that it answers. First off, it is still unknown what exactly happened before the bang, or what if anything existed before that moment. Second, the Big Bang does not address how many universes there are: is there only this universe, or are there different multiverses out there? Additionally, why did matter triumph over antimatter? Other astronomers postulate questions such as “How did galaxies form in the early days of the universe?” or wonder about the theory of dark matter. As can be seen, the Big Bang does not address key issues pertaining to the state before it, dark matter, baryogenesis, and galactic formation. This is what believes me to disagree with the Big Bang theory.

Throughout my research, I discovered many questions about the Big bang theory. But one kept circling around in my head: “what was before?” I just could not believe that all time and space had begun with one singular point that was arbitrarily small and hot, and that it all expanded form there. That is why I believe an event like the Big Bang happened, but it was not nearly the beginning of time and the universe.

Many take the Big Bang as fact, but in reality it is only a theory. And due to the many questions it fails to answer, I choose to disagree with it. What I believe is that the Big Bang was not the beginning of the universe, but just a point in which the universe expanded.

And there exists evidence to back up my claims. Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel recently wrote an article in Forbes magazine about the falsities of the Big Bang theory, and his beliefs seemed to line up with mine. The major reason that he, and I, disagree with the Big Bang theory is the lack of outcomes the theory states should exist. First, there are no very high energy relic left over from the supposed Big Bang, though those 10 billion degree temperatures ought to have created them. Second, the universe contains a spatial curve not differentiating from zero, though this is only achievable with certain balances. Finally, our universe does not contain varied temperatures in varied directions, though according to the Big Bang an area billions of light years away in one direction would never had had the time to interact with an area in the opposite direction.

But Siegel is not the only one to disagree with the Big Bang theory. A Stanford University article introduces the chaotic inflation theory, postulating that each universe has tiny singularities that inflate into universes like ours. These universes than spring more singularities, thus creating a large multiverse. In this way, the Big Bang would not be the beginning of time, just the beginning of our specific universe. Other researchers have theorized that the universe began from a white hole, the opposite of a black hole, in which matter was spewed out of it instead of sucked in. This would explain inflation of the universe and reflect some of the Big Bang’s basic principles, but would imply that the Big Bang was indeed not the beginning of time. As can be seen, there are multiple other theories to how the universe got started. I choose to take a piece of each of these in my general conclusion, that the Big Bang was just an event on the timeline of our universe.

Bibliography

1. Apsell, Paula, director. Origins: Back to the Beginning. PBS, PBS, 2004, www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/origins-back-to-the-beginning/.
2. Chow, Denise. “The Universe: Big Bang to Now in 10 Easy Steps.” Space.com, Space.com, 25 July 2017, www.space.com/13320-big-bang-universe-10-steps-explainer.html.
3. Lamb, Robert. “What Existed before the Big Bang?” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 28 June 2018, science.howstuffworks.com/dictionary/astronomy-terms/before-big-bang1.htm
4. Locke, Susannah. “How Scientists Made a New Element, in GIFs.” Vox.com, Vox Media, 8 May 2014, www.vox.com/2014/5/8/5684538/new-chemical-element-117.
5. Perrenod, Stephen. “What Questions Does the Big Bang Theory Still Fail to Answer?” Quora, Quora Inc., 13 Nov. 2017, www.quora.com/What-questions-does-the-Big-Bang-theory-still-fail-to-answer.
6. Ruth, Carolyn. “Where Do Chemical Elements Come from?” ChemMatters, Oct. 2009, pp. 6–10.
7. Siegel, Ethan. “The Big Bang Wasn’t The Beginning, After All.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 21 Sept. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/09/21/the-big-bang-wasnt-the-beginning-after-all/#7539ae1055df.
8. Stanford University. ‘Universe Offers ‘Eternal Feast,’ Cosmologist Says.’ ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22 February 2007. .