What does space expand into?

Question

Yes it was on the teaching advert and i've been wondering ever since

Answer 1

There are at least three ways of thinking about this.

If you consider the universe to be a typical kind of space which is getting bigger, then presumably there is stuff OUTSIDE the universe into which it gets bigger. The problem is that we can't even see all of our own universe (that's another subject), much less outside it, and even if there were an 'outside' then presumably none of our physical laws would apply there (most of the physical laws seem to be artifacts of the way the universe formed, and there are some physicists who study how they might have turned out differently). So what is the 'outside'?

Maybe it's nothing. Not even empty space. Of course, non-space is a difficult idea to wrap your mind around. There is no reason not to believe that there are other universes out there either, so that as ours expands theirs is forced to contract. That would be a bummer for them.

String theorists may have some other ideas. Some theories predict a number of extra dimensions which don't seem to be around where we are too much, and some scientists have proposed a solution to that problem: We're not in the 'real' universe. If this is true, then what we think of as our universe is really just a pocket of an even bigger universe. The bigger universe would have all the extra dimensions and other things we seem to be missing. And our little pocket would be expanding to take up more and more room of this universe. Of course this begs the question of what's outside of the 'real' universe... but that ends up just turning back to the above guesswork.

Then there's a completely different way of looking at the space in the universe. One could, if one wanted, correlate all the things in our universe with a mathematical model of constant volume. We know things seem to be moving away from us... but there's another way to describe the same thing: maybe they're not moving away, it's just that everything is shrinking. Logically enough, if EVERYTHING expands or contracts in an exactly relative way, there would be no way to tell. If, on the other hand, everything in the universe shrank while the space the universe was in was constant, it would look like things were moving away from each other.

So take your pick. Maybe we're curshing other helpless universes. Maybe we're taking over the real universe. Or maybe we're just getting smaller. Nobody knows for sure... yet.

Answer 2

An analogy may be in order. Model spacetime by a
sphere with time being represented by going down
a longitude line and space for a fixed time being
represented by a latitude line. The Big Bang would
be represented by the north pole. In this model,
space expands until we get to the equator and then
starts to contract again until we get to the south
pole, which represents a 'Big Crunch'.

Now ask what space is expanding into. By
looking at our model, we see the question is either
meaningless, or just has the answer 'into the future'.

In the real world, the spacial part is three dimensional,
not one dimensional like in our model (the circles of
latitude). Also, it is likely that the universe
will expand forever, so instead of a sphere, a
trumpet shape may be more appropriate. But the actual
models used by scientists are generalizations and
elaborations of models like this toy model.

Answer 3

It doesn't expand into anything, it just expands. It isn't expanding like a balloon, just increasing in volume, but space expanding just means the parts of it getting further apart. Space is complete, there's nothing outside it. Space is like what the world would be if we could not look up, or move away or under the surface. You can walk as far as you like, but you will never reach the end, and if there is nothing below or beneath you, there is nothing outside. However the globe could get bigger, making the continents further apart, but there would be nothing outside still and so it would not be expanding into anything. It's not a vacuum as i think has been suggested, it just doesn't exist. We can't apply everyday intuition to the universe. For example, the shortest distance between to points is not a straight line, unlike in two dimensions. Again considering the example of earth (in 3 dimensions), the shortest distance between two points (on the surface) a curve. Space, in 4 dimensions, works in a similar way.

Answer 4

I have seen that advertisement on the television but that does not lessen the wonder and intrigue caused in the mind. It is a natural and an interesting question. I think it is philosophical as well scientific. It is to do with the existence, not only the existence of our physical reality but also existence of all forms of reality including notions, ideas, thoughts and aspirations alongside the physical – the entirety.

To consider this we can ask ourselves - where do our thoughts come from? The fact is we do not exactly know but the important things is that they come to existence where just a moment ago they were nowhere to be found – completely non-existent.

Are our thoughts real? Do they have physical substance? I think they are, and they have. The thought of a cup of tea, for example, is not initially in front of us materialised but it is there physically stored in the neurons of our brain not as a ceramic pot filled with hot liquor but as a formulated electrical charge - well defined and clear. It is well defined because we know we do not think of a cup of tea and go for a glass of water. So our thoughts are real and they are would be materialised reality.

Now, if our thoughts can come needing no physical space to expand into in advance. They are real. Than the universe can also come into existence without needing a place to exist in at first. Then the idea, or thought, of a cup of tea can be expanded and again without requiring any physical space needed for expansion. We can think of having tea without friends, or somewhere special, or we might like to have cup of a certain exotic brew as tea. Ideas and notions can be expanded without a limit, and without required any space as a prerequisite to their expansion.

If we had a mind so much more powerful and elaborate in its abilities and function, then it would have been possible for us to conceive ideas and generate them into physically form directly - just by thinking about things to be physically created. Could such a mind be the mind of God?

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Answer 5

I wish we knew the answer to this question.


However, we do not.

Some people imagine the universe expanding into an empty vastness of nothing, where there is...nothing outside the universe, and the universe is everything there is that exists.


However; it is now also thought the universe could be expanding into an infinite space that contains an indefinite number of other universes.

Answer 6

Space can mean anything. It could be space in a cardboard box, time to sort out problems i.e. "give me some space to sort it" or it could mean a wide open field which ends at its hedgerow boundaries.
If you mean space as in the universe then I wouldn't worry too much about it as it is unlikely we will travel to the stars in our lifetime so it doesn't really matter. The universe is infinite, you could never reach the end. What's after it? who cares..... it will never have any impact on us so why tax your brain.... concern yourself about things that have relevance to you and your life......

No one can answer this because no-one knows. Only speculation can be raised and that cannot be proven so the question is impossible to answer.

So just smile and "Boldly go where every man has gone before" ;o)

Answer 7

I dont know but i'll be watching for answers, I heard this question on that teaching advert too.

Answer 8

Itself

Answer 9

The empty seats at Elland Road. Theres plenty of room at the moment

Answer 10

Nothingness. As the universe expands, it CREATES space...and time.