From: mk_thisisit
The concept of the Big Bang, often considered the beginning of the universe, is challenged by an alternative view that suggests it was not the absolute start of existence [00:00:02]. This perspective, developed around 2004, has observational consequences and posits that the Big Bang was an event that occurred as if “from the distant future” [00:01:00][00:01:12][00:01:18].
Critiques of Inflationary Theory
The speaker explicitly negates inflation theory, stating it “disrupts my other theory” and is “not needed” [00:01:37][00:01:41]. While acknowledging that inflation was introduced for “good reasons,” the speaker asserts that their alternative model provides “other reasons that replace them” [00:01:43][00:01:49].
The traditional inflationary model describes a “huge exponential expansion” right after the Big Bang, dramatically increasing the universe’s size in a fraction of a second [00:01:54][00:02:00]. However, the speaker regards this as a “misleading picture” that “didn’t happen” [00:02:08][00:02:11]. Instead, the speaker’s model suggests that the exponential expansion observed today is a look “through the big bang to what was before” [00:02:13][00:06:06]. Introducing inflation “spoils the cosmology” in this alternative framework [00:05:50][00:05:53].
The Aeon Concept and Exponential Expansion
The speaker defines an “aeon” as the period extending from the Big Bang to the distant future [00:02:22][00:02:29]. Within this aeon, the universe experiences an exponential expansion [00:02:41][00:02:44]. This exponential expansion is characterized by a “self-similar” continuation of expansion, rather than simply meaning “very, very large” scales [00:03:07][00:03:10].
The Cosmological Constant
This observed exponential expansion is attributed to the cosmological constant, a concept originally introduced by Einstein for two reasons but later considered his “biggest mistake” before being proven true [00:03:17][00:03:22][00:03:27][00:03:30][00:03:35]. The speaker was personally convinced of the cosmological constant’s existence by a cosmologist from Princeton, changing their previous assumption that it must be zero [00:06:51][00:06:57][00:07:00].
The cosmological constant is responsible for the universe’s exponential expansion [00:03:38][00:03:41][00:07:28]. The term “dark energy,” often used to describe this phenomenon, is considered a “terrible name” by the speaker because it is “not dark or energy in any ordinary sense of the word” [00:03:46][00:03:49][00:03:51].
Observational Evidence
The oldest light currently observable is the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, emitted approximately 3 million years after the Big Bang [00:04:18][00:04:21][00:04:23][00:04:28]. Before this period, the universe was too hot, existing in a plasma state primarily composed of hydrogen and helium nuclei and electrons, preventing light transmission [00:04:35][00:04:37][00:04:40][00:04:43][00:04:52][00:05:00]. The CMB, captured by satellites like Planck, provides an “amazing picture” of the universe at that time [00:05:12][00:05:14][00:05:17]. To observe earlier periods, physicists must utilize other means, such as neutrons or gravitational waves, as light cannot penetrate further back than approximately 350 million years after the Big Bang [00:05:02][00:05:05][00:05:07][00:05:23][00:05:25].
The Cyclic Universe and Black Hole Evaporation
This alternative view of cosmology is consistent with observations [00:06:31]. It suggests there is “no end” to the universe; rather, the exponential expansion of our current aeon continues indefinitely [00:07:56][00:07:59]. This concept directly relates to the Cyclic Universe Theory [00:08:59].
In this model, the future of the universe involves galaxies and clusters being absorbed by supermassive black holes [00:09:40][00:09:47][00:09:54][00:09:58]. Eventually, these black holes will undergo Hawking evaporation, a process taking an extremely long period (around 10^100 years) [00:10:17][00:10:20][00:10:28]. The energy released during this evaporation is theorized to transfer to the “next aeon,” creating a single point in the sky that could be observed in that subsequent aeon [00:10:35][00:10:38]. This process of black holes absorbing matter and then gradually disappearing through Hawking evaporation is how a previous aeon, which also contained galaxies and black holes, would have contributed to the cosmic microwave radiation observed in our current aeon [00:10:47][00:10:51][00:10:59][00:11:08][00:11:15][00:11:17]. This framework, developed by the speaker with collaborators Krzysztof Meissner, Paweł Nurowski, and another Korean scientist, suggests a universe with “no beginning and no end” [00:11:36][00:11:44][00:11:47][00:08:09][00:08:12].