Does the universe expand faster than the speed of light?

Answer 1

It is believed that it may have during the inflation phase, which occured when the universe was less than one second old. One recent observation suggested that the universe expanded from the size of a marble to larger than the visible universe during the first trillionth of a second of its existence. Even though nothing in the universe can move faster than the speed of light, there are theories which indicate that this restriction does not apply to the actual universe itself. It should be noted, though, that the universe is not thought to be expanding as such a rate today.

Answer 2

The universe does NOT expand faster than the speed of light.

However, as many pointed out, the very first moments of the big bang is still a mystery, and is being tried to be found out in the giant accelerators of today's physical community.

For all we know, the physics of the first moments of the universe is totally different than what we know today. At those moments, even the light could have a different speed, or mass was not yet implemented on matter. Check out the internet for the Higgs particle for more on this.

Aslo:

Answer 3

How fast two galaxies are moving away from each depends on how far apart they are. The further away they are from each other, the faster they move apart. In this way, every galaxy sees the same thing: closer galaxies move away slower than further ones. There is no center of the expansion.

This expansion is an expansion of space itself. The speed of light barrier is for motion *through* space, not a limit of how fast space itself can expand. Because of this, galaxies that are far enough away from each other can have relative velocities greater than that of light. HOWEVER, if they do, light from one can never catch up to the other, so neither one can ever detect the other. They are beyond the 'horizon' from the expansion.

Finally, there was a period of very rapid expansion very early in the big bang (within the first second). This is the 'inflationary' period and the expansion outpaced the speed of light for a short while. This is why our present universe looks so smooth: the bumps were spread out from the inflation.

Answer 4

Oh, what a great question!

If light speed is absolute, and the universe began with the Big Bang, then the universe couldn't expand any faster than light. If this is so, then it would be very simple to extrapolate the exact date of the Big Bang by determining the rate of expansion.

However, anything outside of our universe, be definition does not exist. The expansion rate need not have anything to do with a rate of speed. Imagine, a long string, the length of, say, one light year. If one pulls one end of the string, an observer feels the tug at the same moment, with no delay. The "tug" was communicated instantly, with no delay. The univesal light speed limit does not apply.

So, theoretically, the universe can be expanding at any rate imparted by the Big Bang. This speed may very well be described as "infinitely fast" at it's extremity, since "infinity" describes the end of the universe, with the rate gradually slower nearer the center.

This string could be the length of the universe. There needen't be a paradox (with the rate of expansion being less, in the middle) because our own consciousness and awareness, at either end of the string, or along any part of it, because out consciousness expands at the same rate as the local universe.

Ouch! My brain hurts. It'll have to come out.

Answer 5

Actually, experimentally so far nothing has gone faster than light speed. Theoretically, Tachyons travel faster than the speed of light. According to Einstein's Special Relativity, travelling even at the speed of light requires infinite energy.

Then again the universe is not expanding with constant speed, it is accelerating. So I don't know. But right now it's definitely expanding with a speed less than that of light.

Answer 6

Theoretically, nothing can move faster than the speed of light, because the speed of light is defined as the fastest thing possible.
Then again, a faster speed is always possible--theories can be disproved.
And, just as a note, if the universe wasn't expanding faster than the speed of light, it would need to be expanding as fast as light, or else light would be able to move fast enough to reach the end of the universe (and presumably go beyond).

Answer 7

It cannot be proven, because the universe itself as a whole is not necessarily bound by the laws contained within it. It is an object in something larger and incomprehensible. Light is indeed the fastest "thing" in our universe (although it is tied by the speed of gravity, which is the speed at which gravity takes hold over an object, which is instant.)

Light effectively breaks down the 4th dimension, time, to its smallest possible "piece" --- If you were somehow able to stop time, and somebody pointed a laser in your direction and turned it on, it'd be impossible, even with the power to stop time, to stop it so that the beam was only halfway to you. See, on a smaller scale of existence like ours, light is equivalent to the speed at which time passes. If the laser was on, it would already be completely through and beyond our point of reference. Meaning, there is no way to break the speed at which light/time/gravity are effective into a small enough "chunk" of time to capture the end of the beam in any given frame of reference.

On a universal level, this may or may not hold true.

You may want to investigate String Theory, Relativity and Infinite Mass.

Answer 8

In some sense it actually is. According to the Hubble law: v=H*d, stars at a certain distance is receding faster than light.

This is NOT a contradiction to the fact that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, because in this case, it is actually not the object that is traveling at the speed of light, it is the "space" between the Earth and the object that is expanding, and hence causes the recessional velocity of the star.

Answer 9

Everything in the universe moves at a different rate, because the thigns that blew away from the center originally were all of different shape, mass, and chemical content.
Also, all of the matter that's expanded out from the big bang has had substantial time to slow down.
Without a doubt, some of the original matter shot out at faster than the speed of light, but as the explosion energy is expended, all of these things slow down. The only things possibly moving that fast were the relatively small, resilient peices of matter. I don't think that any of our terran elements or alloys could last that long at that speed though.

Answer 10

I sat down and thought about this for a long time.
And, to tell you the truth, I just don't know. Since
the universe is comprised of a lot of nothing and some huge objects with some little ones tossed in for variety, it seems feasible that the "nothing" could expand at or close to the speed of light. Those huge objects like planets, suns, asteroids, and even meteors, however, are comprised of some kind of matter. i don't think you can accelerate matter to the speed of light.