does the universe have an edge?

Question

Grigory Perelman a topologist has made a breakthrough in the study of shapes that experts say might help scientists figure out the shape of the universe. So if the universe has a shape does that mean it has an edge and is therefore not infinite.

Answer 1

The universe is 'supposed' to be continually expanding and therefore must not be infinate. What gets me is that, if there is an edge, then what lies beyond it??? Im gonna ask that question. It boggles my brain.

Answer 2

The Universe is not infinite. It contains a finite amount of matter and energy.(we don't know how much) It is expanding, so it has a finite area at any one time.(we don't know what it is) The universe may have a shape but it does not have an edge, it has an inside, but no outside. The shape of the universe can be considered to be flat, spherical, or hyperbolic. These shapes have implications for the behaviour of the universe. If the universe is hyperbolic it will continue expanding for ever until it is cold dark and almost empty. The shape of the universe would not have three dimensions, so you would probably not be able to envisage it. Space time is considered to have 4 dimensions, which is hard enough. Under string theory, the universe could have even more dimensions.
People sometimes talk about the edges of the universe. They are referring to those parts of the universe that are expanding away from us at a speed greater than light, so the light can never reach us and we cannot see them. This does not refer to an actual edge, it purely refers to a distance FROM US, and we are not the centre of the universe.

Answer 3

Proponents of the Big Bang make an assumption of the Copernican or Cosmological principle.

The cosmological principle states that an observer’s view of the universe depends neither on the direction in which he looks nor on his location. In other words, the Earth is nowhere special.

There are profound implications arising from this assumption - including that the universe has no centre and no edge.

The Big Bang hypothesis has severe problems (leading to the invention of such things as the evidence-free dark energy and dark matter to try and make it work.) Even evolutionists have been getting worried about the BB hypothesis.

Personally I think the universe has a centre and an edge, and Big Bang cosmology is fatally flawed.

Answer 4

Going with the big bang theory, and Einsteins theory of relativity. The universe could only be as large as *It's age* light years in diameter.

This is because assuming that it expanded at the speed of light, it would have a maximum size. (At any given time.)

Hence, if the universe is 6 billion years old. The edge lies 6 billion light years or less away from the center. It also means the total diameter of the universe would be equal to or lesser than 12 billion light years.

So technically, yes, the universe has an edge. there would be nothing after that point. Not even light. beyond the "edge" of the universe, you couldn't even see our universe. Of course our universe is expanding constantly.

Although, knowing the complicated logistics of gravity, it's possible that it's not expanding anywhere near as fast outside as it is inside. (Perception wise I mean.)

Gravity is a nifty thing isn't it?

Answer 5

I don't believe it has an edge. While the term infinite is one that causes us consternation when coupled with a theory of an ever expanding universe it should also remind us of what little we know. The Universe is made up of 5% matter (that we understand), it's also thought that 25% is dark matter. This leaves us with 70% that we cannot explain. To talk of shapes is too simplistic. Try describing to a friend something of which you know little about. Theoretical Physics is just that, theoretical, and seeking for absolute proofs. We may never find them but we constrain our ability to look for answers that can only come from the knowledge we have. To explain the unexplainable requires us to try and imagine the unimaginable.

Answer 6

There would be two edges. The outer edge or fringe comes from photons of light generated by the interor matter edge of expanding stars and bodies. The photons travel at the speed of light from the edge of the mass, thus the "technical" size of "our universe" expands exponetially.

IF I'm not mistaken Quasrs are supposed to be the fastest known moving bodies at close to, yet under light speed. Their radiation, however, eminateds at the speed of light which is always constant, so an observer OUTSIDE the EDGE of the universe would SEE the Quasar's light before the actual Quasar arrives at that point in space.

In 100,000,000 years or however long they link the current Universe has been around, the light from these Quasars has travelled much further than the actual object. So the light is now something like 10,000,000 light years in distance from the actual object.

No one can actually confirm that the second definition of SPACE exists.

On definition is a point on an x,y,z coordinate. That is a point in space. The other definition is "room" between things. A buffer zone of NOTHING and no one can prove that.

It is said the Universe is made up of Dark and Light Mass and that the amount of MASS is constant in the universe.

As such, then as light mass extendes with the fringe and barrier then Dark mass is moving and shifting to make room for it.

If this is true then black mass can generate friction and resistance to white mass, slowing it down.

IT is also said that the space warps and warps all over the place.

Finally, under the concepts of Relativity it is impossible to measure things like the universe because we would need at least two vantage points, of not more, to avoid the "elephant" parts syndrome.

One point doesn't exist in the known universe and that is an ABSOLUTE x,y,z point that never moves.

Nothing is stationary in the universe. Everything moves. Your first observation point would be at TOTAL REST and at Total rest we would be larger, die faster and have longer rulers than we do on the moving Earth.

The Earth, you see, could be moving at 100,000 miles per second through the universe. We don't know for sure.

We measure stars RELATIVE to our positon and we make broad assumptions that the point of origin is there and the point of edge is there.

Eistein says these measurements are tainted because of Relativity.

We don't know for sure if the ball is falling straight to the ground off our trolly or moving down and at an angle as the observer on the sidewalks sees it.

Our view of the Universe is like the blind man describing an elephant based on what he feels at a given point on the body.

In theory, however, there is an edge, probalby irregular, between a majority of dark mass and a majority of white mass expanding into the black mass.

They have claimed to see this with the existance of dark areas where light photons are lesser or have not yet penetrated.

You can prove this to a degree when you go into the desert and look at the sky and see how black it is and then go towards a city and see the light reflecting above in the air.

They claim white light rays and photons (white mass?) is doing this to black mass deep inspace. Lighting it up for the first time.

Go deep enough into black mass at faster than light (impossible, so this is a theoritical) and eventually the numbers of photons from stars stops as you pass the point where they exist until there is one dot from one star and eventually that vanishes and you are in total black mass.

This is all theortical and many scientists would take issue with me, so it is an oversimplification.

Answer 7

The definition of the be conscious "Universe" is "each little thing that's" Even no longer something is a few thing.it fairly is the absence of something so as that's a minimum of definable as some thing we are able to percieve. There could be no element, outdoors the universe via fact each little thing that's,even no longer something,is interior of a so called "Universe" Our universe with it fairly is particular dimensionality has many many layers.maximum we can't see or work together with without postpone. forget approximately what you think of roughly area being empty and verify out this.the main important some thing interior the universe we see is spacetime.It feels like no longer something to us,yet on nearer examination we detect out that's a superdense hyperfluidic of a few variety that helps the presence of EM and mass. BTW. EM and mass are all we are able to establish of our universe. Electromagnetism and Mass prepare us that spacetime is an fairly definate some thing via fact it fairly is the warping of spacetime by ability of mass that provides us gravity.And the bigger the gravity the better the warpage. See "Gravitational Lensing" So what's spacetime and why can no longer we see it without postpone? Welllllllllll.that's the sixtyfour trillion dollar question. Nobel prize in spades.

Answer 8

It may very well be that what lies beyond the "edge" of the universe requires that the universe intrude into it in order for it to exist. According to the double slit experiment in quantum mechanics, nothing exists until it has been observed! One could think of the edge of the universe not as a boundry, but as the continuous process of creation itself.

The problem is, if beyond the universe doesn't exist, then we have a real problem because the human brain seems to require boundries to comprehend things. Nobody seems truly comfortable with the concept of infinity.

Answer 9

The universe is a local phenomenon 180 billion light years across and 15.8 billion light years old.
so there are ends / borders to the universe.
But since the universe expands so it's edges are moving away from each other at a speed much greater than the speed of light, the edges can not be observed.

Answer 10

This question has been asked and answered too many times in the last month to be worth mentioning!

Here's an interesting thing, however. I have seen on this specific question today answers from level 3, 5 and even level 7 answerers none of whom actually appears to know what they are talking about, repeating 'facts' that simply aren't true and apparently incapable of stringing together a grammatical answer with correct spelling.

Does this mean that the 'level' system is actually meaningless if it allows dyslexic ignoramuses to achieve significant scores?

Answer 11

Our universe is infinite, which means it has no boundary or edge. Pieces within the universe, galaxies stars planets etc. are moving away from each other. Our own Moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of 4" per year.