Tagged Questions

1
vote
2answers
163 views

Excluding big bang itself, does spacetime have a boundary?

My understanding of big bang cosmology and General Relativity is that both matter and spacetime emerged together (I'm not considering time zero where there was a singularity). Does this mean that ...
0
votes
1answer
103 views

Did space and time exist before the Big Bang? [duplicate]

I accept the Big Bang theory. What I can't understand is how there can be a where or when to the Big Bang if space time did not exist prior to it. Did space and time exist prior to the Big Bang?
1
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0answers
37 views

When spacetime expands to the point where galaxy clusters are not observable, will there by any interaction?

It's my understanding that in a few billion years, clusters of galaxies won't be able to directly observe one another due to the expansion of spacetime overcoming gravity between those clusters. ...
1
vote
1answer
69 views

Can the fuzzball conjecture be applied to microscopically explain the entropy of a region beyond the gravitational observer horizon?

In this article discussing this and related papers, it is explained among other things, how the neighborhood of an observer's worldline can be approximated by a region of Minkowsky spacetime. If I ...
3
votes
1answer
104 views

Negative energy and large-scale spacetime structure

I was reading an essay from Stephen Hawking's on the Space and Time warps and I was trying to make sense on some statements referring to the Casimir effect such as: The energy density of empty ...
-2
votes
1answer
109 views

Finite amount of matter and space

(Please bear with me.) If the universe included multi-universes, and black holes transferred matter between them, AND yet there was a large, but FINITE amount of matter and space, How would that ...
2
votes
2answers
189 views

Did the universe always have 4 space time dimensions?

Is the dimensionality of spacetime in all usual models constant?
0
votes
0answers
92 views

QFT on fixed Robertson-Walker background spacetime [closed]

What's known about QFT (or even QM) on fixed, but non-Minkowski spacetimes such as the cosmological Robertson-Walker background defined by: $ ds^2 = c^2 dt^2 - a(t)^2 * (dx^2 + dy^2 + dz^2) $ By ...
2
votes
1answer
61 views

Why is that the space-time associated with the Earth is not shrinking?

If we apply the Friedmann Lemaître equation to the Universe, we find a critical density $\rho_c$ : if the actual density $\rho$ is under it, the Universe will continue to expand, if it is higher than ...
0
votes
0answers
54 views

Space-time & solar mass

Does the space-time curvature described by Einstein have any affect on the accuracy of our determination in the age of a star or globular cluster? How does this affect our interpretion of how old we ...
1
vote
1answer
78 views

Two definitions: 'semi-classical space-time' and 'supersymmetric Minkowski space'

By reading articles I ran several times into two terms, never being defined so I assume they must have well established definitions somewhere. The first is semi-classical space-time. If I where to ...
1
vote
1answer
113 views

A question about multiverse

I have a question that I would like to ask here since I'm not an expert or any near to that. Actually I just came up with this question when I was watching The fabric of cosmos. I couldn't find where ...
4
votes
2answers
241 views

Does the current acceleration of universe imply that our universe is open?

Does the current acceleration of universe imply that our universe is open? If the universe is closed, from the Friedmann's equation, the acceleration of universe wouldn't be possible, would it be? (Of ...
5
votes
2answers
112 views

Why does the homogeneity of the universe require inflation?

They say inflation must have occured because the universe is very homogeneous. Otherwise, how could one part of the universe reach the same temperature as another when the distance between the parts ...
1
vote
2answers
190 views

How to concile flat spacetime and big bang?

After reading How do we resolve a flat spacetime and the cosmological principle? I still remain perplex. Please excuse my ignorance and try explaining to me : I thought that basically, when we ...
0
votes
2answers
278 views

Can the expansion space time reverse itself and contract the same way?

If there's a mechanism for space-time expanding faster than the speed of light, is there an example of It contracting in the same manner? If whatever mechanism is causing it to expand, can the ...
4
votes
5answers
492 views

What is the extent of the universe?

Is there any realistic, understandable, provable (even in some extent) explanation/model for the extent of the universe? What is its shape? and Why? I mean physical explanations not philosophical ...
1
vote
0answers
89 views

Confusion with infinity and time [closed]

I have some confusion between with resolving the following situation. I know that no measurable quantity can have a value of infinity. For example, I just wrote something out, but clearly this ...
12
votes
3answers
104 views

What is meant when it is said that the universe is homogeneous and isotropic?

It is sometimes said that the universe is homogeneous and isotropic. What is meant by each of these descriptions? Are they mutually exclusive, or does one require the other? And what implications rise ...
5
votes
4answers
812 views

Did spacetime start with the Big bang?

Did spacetime start with the Big Bang? I mean, was there any presence of this spacetime we are experiencing now before big bang? And could there be a presence/existence of any other space-time before ...
12
votes
3answers
1k views

If the universe were compressed into a super massive black hole, how big would it be?

I understand only a little of general relativity, but that's why I'm here! :) Consider the hypothetical situation of some extra-terrestrial intelligence pushing all the mass in the universe, every ...