2007-05-29 06:40:56 · 5 answers · asked by drtimgarland 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
You ask a good question, one whose answer lies in the subtle difference between expansion that is faster than the speed of light and the propagation of information that is faster than the speed of light. The latter is forbidden by fundamental physical laws, but the former is allowed; that is, as long as you are not transmitting any information (like a light pulse), you can make something happen at a speed that is faster than that of light. The expansion of the Universe is a "growth" of the spacetime itself; this spacetime may move faster than the speed of light relative to some other location, as long as the two locations can't communicate with each other (or, in terms of light rays, these two parts of the Universe can't see each other). According to the theory of inflation, the Universe grew by a factor of 10 to the sixtieth power in less than 10 to the negative thirty seconds, so the "edges" of the Universe were expanding away from each other faster than the speed of light; however, as long as those edges can't see each other (which is what we always assume), there is no physical law that forbids it.
2007-05-29 06:45:23 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Yes, the inflationary period immediately after the Big Bang exceeded light speed. This is allowed by relativity because it was *space* that expanded faster than light. There was no movement of any material *through* space which relativity prohibits.
Because of inflation, there are vast regions of the universe that we can never observe because of the limitations of light speed to return information to us from there.
2007-05-29 14:12:31 · answer #2 · answered by Chug-a-Lug 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, but it doesn't count.
The speed of light is the measurement of the speed of photons in space. The inflationary period was an expansion OF space, not an expansion in space.
Think of an ant that has to crawl around a balloon. It's his whole world. He has a maximum speed: the speed of ant.
However, if you blow into the balloon so that it gets bigger, it may get bigger faster than the speed of ant. It is not about him walking around on the balloon. It is about the balloon itself getting bigger.
2007-05-29 13:45:58 · answer #3 · answered by TychaBrahe 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, as the speed of light is the maximum speed at which anything can travel. However, there is some possibility that the speed of light itself may have changed over time do to alterations in the universe's underlying geometry.
2007-05-29 13:44:50 · answer #4 · answered by Qwyrx 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
It probaly did but it was an expansion of space and not the physical travel of particles from on place to another in the universe
2007-05-29 13:44:20 · answer #5 · answered by Gene 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋