If the universe is not infinite, what is beyond the limits of the universe?
2007-03-27 00:48:38 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Currently, the best evidence suggests that the universe is infinite and unbounded.
However, for many years, it was considered a possibility that the universe is finite. But even in this scenario, the universe was not bounded. How is this possible? Imagine the surface of a sphere. The surface itself is finite, but there are no boundaries on the surface. In the same way, the thought was that the universe was 'curved' in such a way that no matter which direction you headed out, you would eventually come back around to your starting point, just like on a sphere. In that case, the universe would be finite, but not bounded. This was actually suggested because a universe dense enough to collapse from gravity (after the current expansion) was predicted to have this type of spherical geometry from Einstein's equations.
2007-03-27 02:07:38 · answer #1 · answered by mathematician 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, first of all, it most likely seems that it is infinite, there is no boundary.
However, you have try and think of the universe without time. Pretty much one second before the big bang. This would be the universe before the start of the fourth dimension, time. According to current theory, the three spatial dimensions on the X, Y, and Z axis preceeded the moment of the big bang. If you think of it like that, there is no boundary and the spatial universe is infinite.
But when you add time to the equation, you can only go back so far and therefore there would be a boundary of time which for all intents and purposes would be nothing like a spatial boundary. It is just beyond our understanding to come up with a mental image of what a time boundary might 'look' like.
Take it for what its worth. Not very long ago they thought the world was flat and that the sun revolved around the Earth. So, this could all be complete nonsense.
2007-03-27 08:11:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The universe is a finite entity,it had a beginning and it will eventually come to an end.
Beyond the boundary there is nothing.
When the universe comes to an end it will reside in an eternal state of nothing.
Before it started there was a finite potential that resulted in what we experience.
It is an incident that will eventually go out of existence and never occur again.
That is outside the universe.
2007-03-27 09:09:42 · answer #3 · answered by Billy Butthead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the current theorized model of the universe, the universe is indeed infinite. But since we only have an observable universe of less than 14 billion light years, we can only guess as to what lies beyond it. For the most part, we can assume that for the next few billion years we will just continue to see more of the universe as more light reaches us.
But it is absolutely unknown what lies beyond the limit of the universe we know that inflated from the Big Bang singularity. Physicists can theorize as much as they want, making claims that we are merely a single bubble in a sea of bubbles (ie other universes) that will eventually collide, merge, or whatever. But without observational evidence, we can't really be sure of anything.
2007-03-27 08:06:25 · answer #4 · answered by Bhajun Singh 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Universe goes on and on...infinite...
The limits of viewing deep in the universe are the following -
1. Very faint light coming from a distant source, which is very difficult to analyze
2. Limitation in launching large mirror space telescope (3 times larger than Hubble's mirror)
2007-03-27 08:15:42 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
According to scientist review, the edge would be a radiation layer covering the universe like eggshell. near to it would be millions of embryonic galaxies. Further than that layer, no one ever knows what is beyond that. What ever after that universe, they suspects another universe. The question is still unknown.
2007-03-27 09:56:22 · answer #6 · answered by Nemphyssia 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We are as ignorant about the size of the universe as the Europeans were before Christopher Columbus made his voyage to prove that the earth wasn't flat. When we send someone to find the "edge of the universe" and they find that they have returned to their destination, then we will know that the universe is warped in a dimension that we cannot yet comprehend.
2007-03-27 08:11:05 · answer #7 · answered by Surveyor 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Beyond the Boundary of our visible universe is "Dark Energy"
2007-03-27 08:37:11 · answer #8 · answered by Prof. Pranab Bhattacharya 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The answer is nothing. But nothing is not just an empty space, it is the non-existence of anything.
2007-03-27 07:51:45 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
No one knows and if anyone thinks thay have the answer, they are lying.
2007-03-27 07:53:11 · answer #10 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋