Origin of the universe: Big Bang?

Question

How could the universe form from nothing? If you know of any literature (books or primary literature) or even links, can you please inform me? I believe the universe formed via the Big Bang theory, but the one thing I don't understand is how did it form from "nothing." What pulled the trigger? Thank you.

Answer 1

You might be very interested to read about M-theory. It was originally developed as a way of reconciling the five different versions of string theory, but when physicists started applying it to other ideas, they found a way to account for the sudden appearance of mass, space, and time in our Universe at the moment of the Big Bang.

I won't go into it in great detail here (because it would take hours!) but the gist of it is that there are these 4-dimensional membranes floating in 11-dimensional spacetime, and whenever two of them collide, it forms new Universes at the site of the collision. Presumably, there are an infinite number of Universes parallel to our own, each with its own set of physical laws. Some of them might seem very similar to ours, while some would be vastly different and unrecognizable (or even uninhabitable) to creatures like us. In fact, I watched a documentary recently that suggested that physicists might be able to generate a new Universe in the laboratory. Not to worry, the program assured us, this new Universe wouldn't displace ours. Rather, it would pinch off and form in a separate spacetime, parallel to ours, just like so many others. You'll have to pardon me if the entire prospect still makes me a little nervous.

But yeah. M-theory is cool stuff. Read up on it.

The link below will get you started:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introduction_to_M-theory

Answer 2

The current universe did not form from "nothing". It formed, at the time of the Big Bang, from an almost infinitely dense and hot point containing all that was to become the matter and energy that now fills what we know as the universe. Everything that happened after that point in time "the beginning" has left traces that we can see, detect, and measure, in forms of matter and energy. What apparently did not come with the universe was information about what happened prior to the "Big Bang". From my reading of the current data and theories, it is not possible to find any information on what happened "before" the "Big Bang". That has not stopped theoreticians in a number of scientific disciplines from coming up with ideas that could explain the reason for the occurrence of the "Big Bang". Although we may not ever be able to say "what pulled the trigger", we may be able to determine "why" and "how" the trigger was pulled, and under what conditions it might be pulled again.

All of those theories though, postulate universes and dimensions that apparently had no beginning, which I find as hard to conceive of as the start of the Big Bang. Human experience is that EVERYTHING has a beginning and that EVERYTHING will have an end. Something from nothing and something without beginning or end just does not fit into the minds we have, even if we ardently believe that it is so.

Answer 3

It's not actually from nothing. The Big Bang can now be referred to as a unit of time. As most definitions say, the Big Bang allowed the great expansion of the heavenly bodies to the universe as we know it in a very minute amount of time. This expansion came from an explosion from having all significant matter in the universe compress tightly into a small amount of space. The pressure builds up between matter because they compress, meaning generation of friction or heat; and when there is heat, matter becomes more agitated; too much for their combined gravity on each other put together, thus issuing the rapid expansion of the universe, the cataclysmic explosion.
You know that. But looking at the aftermath, there is an undeniable fact that all objects have a certain amount of gravity: That's why galaxies are commonly bulged in the center because the stars are attracted to each other. But since this collection of stars have gravities on their own, it is highly possible that galaxies, no matter how distant they are from each other would tend to attract each other either feebly or strongly. Therefore, it is again highly probable that all matter may once again attract itself again to a whole, thus creating another Big Bang.
I referred to the Big Bang as a unit of time because there is the possibility of an infinite amount of Big Bangs that have taken place before our time.
Imagine compressing the galaxies into such a small space, as if nearing nothingness, it's bound to pop out right? :-)

Answer 4

You will not get a satisfactory answer to your question because nobody knows, however I can offer you something to think about. I once read that a vacuum contains potential energy, if this is so, then the vacuum of the void that the big bang of the singularity sprang from must have contained a huge amount of energy, because it was the mother of all vacuums, something may have have triggered the concentration of this energy into this pin point of pure energy that the universe evolved from.

Answer 5

It may have been caused by the collapse of a previous universe. Here's a good intro to that idea.

http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/07/01/

Answer 6

Lucas C pretty much has the right of it. Another good book for you to read is 'The Fabric of Reality' by David Deutsch.

Doug

Answer 7

"The Universe in a Nutshell" by Stephen Hawking.
"A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking
"Parallel Worlds" by Michio Kaku.

Those would be a great start...Happy reading!

Answer 8

hmmm! yes uni. can never be formed becuase of B/B. just wait for some time, till i get my theory of origin of universe published. it will definately change the way we look to the universe and many more things that are going to surprise scientists world over.

Answer 9

The Big Bang theory isnt accurate they have no evidence that happened. God made the world the Bible says so . I know the most un spiritual people and they even know that God created the Heavens and the Earth. Genesis 1:1 in the Bible would be evidence that God created the world.