If the universe started as a singularity does this mean all matter is dimensionless and is actually energy?

Question

If we are to believe that our known universe started as a singularity - a point of zero dimension and infinite mass, is it the case that all the matter that surrounds us actually has no volume and that the particles that we observe at the sub atomic level are ultimately composed of nothing more than energy?

Answer 1

Well, firstly lets clear up what a singularity is.

It does not have zero dimension - it has zero extent. This is an important distinction - it has at least 4 dimensions but no extent in any of them. And it has no mass. The big bang released purely energy, with no matter - the energy levels were far too high for particles to have condensed.

We are not much good at handleing the physics before this condensation of particles, and we have not fully accounted for the mass of particles that are not massless. Indeed in standard quantum theory all particles are excitations of fields, and an as yet unobserved so called Higgs field is needed to give rise to mass.

And in fact most of the mass we observe around us is in fact energy - the actual rest mass of the quark in a nucleon is only about 1/5th the mass of the nucleon. The rest of the mass is binding energy.

But to answer the question are these quarks just energy is harder. Its possible - perhaps even likely - but it requires physics beyond the standard model. And we haven't any proved theories in that domain.

Answer 2

If such were the case then it would be logical to conclude that we can control God. Why do I say this? It is because of the simple fact that humans can manipulate certain forms of matter and energy. If God were all of this; then that means that humans can control God or at least partially since that control is limited to this planet or to places that humans have sent interstellar probes; i.e. Voyager which is nearly 10 billion miles away now only .04% of the distance to the nearest star. Yes, pretty slow by interstellar probe standards but nonetheless what Voyager is classified to be presently since it is no longer in the Solar star system. I noticed you are an atheist and send you all the blessings from a believer with an open mind. I answered a question concerning religion, mentioning that atheists are just as capable of giving love as believers. Personally I feel like you as a non-believer are more blessed than those who denounce you for not believing. LOL!! You also don't have to believe in God to realize that scientific knowledge is a wonderful gift and a tool. I hope my insight has helped you to understand a bit better why some people believe and even more so; why some don't. Bless you and keep an open mind!

Answer 3

yea, if u believe that our universe came out of absolutely nothing or from a singularity-a point of zero dimension & infinite mass then u can consider everything at the sub atomic level as energy as u believe that there were no matter before the big bang.

but there is controversy about the singularity theory as we watch that -- making huge universe out of absolutely nothing!! a researcher from Japan "Michio Kaku" has described that our universe isn't created from absolutely nothing.according to him, the total universe is changing its shape & dimension perodically.the total universe shrinks to a point after a certain period that can be compared to a kitchen sink -- where u can spread water.the water finally unites at the bottom hole, passes through the hole & finally disperses again at the end of the hole or pipe. our universe is also shrinks to a point with its everything like the water , finally disperses again (which can be thought as big-bang) and reorients everything.thus a universe changes its shape & orientation but the elements inside are the same.this is going on for a long long time and todays universe will also shrink & will create a new one.this super shrinked point is what we call singularity today. but everything is inside it,just taking the preparation to be oriented again.

mass & energy are interrelated as the famous theory of Eienstien,so everything having mass can be considered as energy.thats right.but think what Michio says!!

Answer 4

My favourite moan this one. The "Singularity" was invented as an unfortunate result of some mathematicians taking their theories and calculations too literally!
They saw that if you reverse time the general trend in their wave equations etc was "towards zero", which they extrapolated to "zero".
This is the sort of leap of faith that I would expect of any creationist worth his salt, however it has no place in anything other than Physics theory. If you want to talk about the reality of what might have occured then it is far more likely that, as energy density passes a critical point, some new, as yet unknown forces begin to act, leading to a less "perfect", but more likely, starting point.
To answer your question though, it is pretty likely that energy is the only real building block out there.

Answer 5

Very interesting question. I'm reading a book called 'the chilling stars - a new theory of climate change', it talks about how cosmic rays create clouds and affect our climate, but one thing that got me thinking was when i read that some cosmic rays come further through our atmosphere and on through the human body down into the earth. So I thought what if they don't just stop in the earth but carry on right through it, as maybe we're not actually physically here, if you catch my drift, I'm afraid I'm not very good at putting my thoughts into words.

Answer 6

Yes, atoms are mostly space. Yogis and the Flying Blue Men of Turkey have been exploited the "mostly space" nature of reality for a long time.

Ever since I learned this, I have often wondered in what ways I could exploit it.

Answer 7

It's all a question of scale. What looks solid to us looks very different when you examine it at microscopic level, and different again when examined at sub atomic levels. Think of matter as 'lumpy' energy.

Answer 8

Yes. Einsteins famous equation (E=mc^2) even tells you how much energy a given amount of matter is.

Answer 9

E = MC^2

The two can be equated.

It has been my belief (and I stress belief) for many years that everything is simply energy. The closer you look at things, the more they resemble energy.