Energy in the Universe. `THE STORY OF THE BIG BANG.
VERN BENDER
THIS BLOG’S GOAL IS TO COMBINE SCIENCE AND CHRISTIANITY INTO A LEARNED BELIEF RESULT.
in the universe.
Dark energy is a mysterious, unidentified form of energy that is thought to be responsible for the accelerating expansion of the universe. It makes up a significant portion of the universe’s total energy density and causes galaxies to move further apart at an increasing rate.
Dark energy is one of the great mysteries of cosmology
“Dark energy” is a term scientists used to refer to whatever is causing the universe to expand faster over time.
Scientists currently don’t fully understand dark energy, but it is believed to be a property of space itself, causing a repulsive gravitational effect that pushes the universe apart.
Unlike normal matter, dark matter does not interact with the electromagnetic force. This means it does not absorb, reflect, or emit light, making it extremely hard to spot.
As we understand it, the universe began with the Big Bang, an event about 13.8 billion years ago that marked the beginning of space, time, and all matter and energy. Before this, it is believed the universe existed in a boiling, dense state, possibly as a singularity—a point of infinite density and power.
The total energy of the universe is a captivating mystery. Quantum fluctuations, or vacuum energy, suggest that matter’s positive energy is balanced by gravity’s negative energy, potentially meaning the universe emerged from ‘nothing’ in a quantum sense.
Dark matter makes up most of the mass of galaxies and galaxy clusters and is responsible for how galaxies are organized on grand scales. Meanwhile, dark energy is the name we give the mysterious influence driving the universe’s accelerated expansion. Dark matter is stuff in space with gravity, but it is invisible and isn’t like anything else we know about. Dark matter makes up about 27% of the universe, while dark energy makes up roughly 68%.
The non-born candidates can be grouped into three broad categories: hot, cold, and neutral. Hot dark matter refers to particles, such as the known types of neutrinos, that move near the speed of light when the clumps that form galaxies and clusters of galaxies begin growing.
THIS BLOG’S GOAL IS TO COMBINE SCIENCE AND CHRISTIANITY INTO A LEARNED BELIEF RESULT.
According to general relativity, the concept of time began with the Big Bang, meaning asking “what came before” may not be meaningful in our current understanding of physics. In this sense, there was no ‘before’ the Big Bang because time did not exist.
Quantum Cosmology: Some theories suggest the universe could have come from a quantum fluctuation in a vacuum, where space-time and energy can spontaneously appear andthen expand. In this view, the Big Bang was not the beginning of energy but the start of its observable expansion.
Multiverse or Cyclic Models: Some speculative theories propose that the Big Bang was just one of many cycles of expansion and contraction (the Big Bounce theory) or came from a larger multiverse where universes are constantly being born from others. In these models, the Big Bang is the start of our universe, not the first event ever.
There is yet to be a definitive answer to what existed before the Big Bang or where the initial energy came from. This question lies at the intersection of physics, cosmology, and even philosophy, as theories such as quantum gravity and string theory are pushing the limits of our current understanding.
While the Big Bang is our universe’s widely accepted starting point, what caused it or what came before is still uncertain. The universe’s energy may have originated from quantum fluctuations or existed in some form before the Big Bang, but this remains an area of ongoing, dynamic research. The question of what existed ‘before’ the Big Bang challenges our understanding of time and space, and you, as a reader, are part of this exciting journey.
THIS BLOG’S GOAL IS TO COMBINE SCIENCE AND CHRISTIANITY INTO A LEARNED BELIEF RESULT.
