What was there before the quantum singularity that spawned our universe?

Question

I find it hard to understand how it (the universe as we know it) could have just 'happened'. How did time and matter just start? And according to red shift the universe is expanding- what is it expanding into? Is it ging in a great big circle?

Answer 1

We do not know.
No one does.
The physical laws of nature that we have understood (imperfectly) and codified into equations do not apply as far as we know a fraction of a picosecond after the big bang; trying to estimate what happened or what was there before is thus a mission for which we simply do not have suitable tools.
Likewise, what is beyond the presently observable universe, where it is expanding into, is beyond our investigative capability.
You may receive answers that would speculate to no end about those two "ends" of the universe, but none will be able to offer any demonstrable theory.

Answer 2

I don’t think that the universe or time just started. I do believe in God. I think that the Big Bang and the universes expansion is cyclical. I think that the universe will expand and as it expands the matter will be absorbed by black holes. At some point the black holes will become so dense that it tares a hole in space-time and a new universe begins and starts to expand.

the Big Bang is the scientific theory that the universe emerged from a tremendously dense and hot state about 13.7 billion years ago. The theory is based on the observations indicating the expansion of space (in accord with the Robertson-Walker model of general relativity) as indicated by the Hubble redshift of distant galaxies taken together with the cosmological principle.

Extrapolated into the past, these observations show that the universe has expanded from a state in which all the matter and energy in the universe was at an immense temperature and density. Physicists do not widely agree on what happened before this, although general relativity predicts a gravitational singularity (for reporting on some of the more notable speculation on this issue, see cosmogony).

A gravitational singularity is a singularity in the structure of spacetime. Roughly, it is a place where quantities which are used to measure the gravitational field become infinite. Such quantities are the curvature of spacetime or the density of matter. More accurately, in a spacetime with a singularity there are geodesics which cannot be completed in a smooth manner. The limit of such a geodesic is the singularity.

A black hole is defined to be a region of space-time where escape to the outside universe is impossible. The outer boundary of this region is called the event horizon. Nothing can move from inside the event horizon to the outside, even briefly, due to the extreme gravitational field existing within the region. For the same reason, observers outside the event horizon cannot see any events which may be happening within the event horizon; thus any energy being radiated or events happening within the region are forever unable to be seen or detected from outside. Within the black hole is a singularity, an anomalous point in space-time where all matter is infinitely dense and is infinitely compressed into nothingness.

My personal belief is that each black hole is the start of a new universe.

Answer 3

The concept of "before" implies time was present, it was not. There was no before, no matter or space.

Nobody really knows how it began...

As far as the red shift is concerned, why can't the universe expand into an infinitely large space?

I really recommend Simon Singh's book The Big Bang to anyone who is remotely interested in this subject. It's a great book, with huge detail that doesn't send you to sleep or bore the pants of you! It explains things in ways that the man in the street would understand.

Answer 4

Before was a dimensional transfer and powerhouse of energy.(God)(energy with an unknown) I believe in God so i think thats how he created the universe. It gathered what he needed as far as dark matter, dark energy, and regular mass. And set it off in an explosion of photons working thru parallel dimensions. The photons working thru other dimensions is a basis for the understanding of gravity. One big illusion. I think that eventually we will slow down as far as expanding but heres where i ver off. After we lose momentum from the explosion i feel we will be distributed far enough from other galaxies to where there would be no interference. I dont think we will crunch like they say there will be. Then in the revelations when it says we the earths new temple will no longer rely on the moon and sun for light, All of the blackholes will collapse and release photons in the biggest antimatter explosion u have ever seen. I know that sounds vague and crazy but if this universe doesnt get sucked up by a black hole or crunch together, then by then all of the blackholes will have exploded according to Steven Hawking.

Answer 5

Nobody knows. We know that the galaxies are moving away from each other so the theory is that if you reverse this process they will all come together as a singularity but it is a theory. There is also the theory that the universe is pulsating and it will start of contract and then expand again. If the big bang theory is correct then there was nothing before the big bang. Who knows

Answer 6

According to M theory, there are other dimensions inaccessible to us. In these dimensions, infinite membranes of various shapes move. These membranes collide and when they do a big bang occurs and spawns off a universe in it's own space-time, like ours. According to M theory, big bangs happen all the time, so there are infinite universes around us, but in other dimensions we can't access. Now the question is where did the membranes come from and what exactly are they.

Answer 7

This is a tough question. But our universe is one of a several different possible universes. And every possiblity that can happen has happened in another universe for example you and I would be married in another universe. And some universe have laws of physics that are totally alien to us. Scientiest think that the universes are membranes and when these membrances collide then an explosion like the big bang would occur.

Answer 8

The Big Bang Burger Bar.

Answer 9

Where were you 2 years before you were born? Think about it, you weren't anywhere. There wasn't even a "space" where your "self", oe your mind "wasn't" , because you simply did not exist.

Time and space had no meaning "before" the quantum singularity that spawned this universe. There was no "before"!

Answer 10

In the beginning there was light. i.e. this was the beginning of consciousness the we are. Before that there was just stuff in space. Now there is just stuff in space banging togeather eventually destroying and creating other stuff. Best not to think to hard about it.