Origin of the Universe

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Origin of the Universe

• Big Bang Theory

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Big Bang Theory

• Scientists now believe that the universe had a
  definite beginning, and it will have an end.
• The best explanation for the existence of the
  universe is currently the Big Bang Theory.
• The Big Bang is thought to be an explosion from a
  SINGULARITY (a single point of density where
  all known space was compressed into an infinitely
  small mass).
• This happened 12-15bn years ago
  (12,000,000,000-15,000,000,000 years)
• They dont really know what the singularity was
  or how long it had been there.

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• Unlike Steady State Theory, the universe is not
  filling up as it expands the galaxies are
  moving further away from each other, with more
  space in-between.
• In the first second after the explosion, gravity
  and electro-magnetism were created.
• In the first minute the universe had grown to
  1million billion miles (1,000,000,000,000) across
• In the first 3 minutes, the heat (10 billion
  degrees celsius) causes nuclear reaction with
  lightest particles to make 98 of all matter in
  the universe.

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• The Big bang was thought to produce 2 main types
  of particle matter and anti-matter.
• Matter and anti-matter in equal quantities cancel
  each other out. The surplus is what the universe
  is made of.
• After 500,000 years, particles from atoms
• 500,000 years after that, atoms and molecules
  start to gather together and form galaxies and
  suns
• Out of the first stars came H, He, C, O
• Our solar system is about 4.5 billion years old.

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Evidence Supporting the Big Bang Theory

• Hubbles Law the speed of the galaxies moving
  away from each other causes a change in the light
  spectrum, red shift.
• Background radiation We can still detect
  radiation from an explosion of this size the
  radiation is the same everywhere on earth (TV
  static, etc).
• Composition of Older Galaxies Analysis of light
  from galaxies towards the outside of the
  universe confirm theories about the early
  universe. They are made up of approx 93 H, 7
  He, and trace Li

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But

• Cosmologists cannot follow the evidence right
  back to the origin of the Big Bang
• There is observable evidence to count for 90 of
  the explosion (10.5bn years) no light to be
  measured from other 10
• The other 10 is only known through
  hypothetical mathematical simulations they are
  only theoretical.

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Religious Use of the Gap

• As science is not 100 certain about the cause of
  the Big Bang, it is reasonable to posit God there
  (no evidence against this) this is a God of
  the Gaps approach
• Some facts about the world might always be beyond
  science even if we do figure out all of the
  processes behind how we got here, it still does
  not answer why we are here. There could always
  be an ultimate power behind it all. This is an
  area of faith.

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Conclusions

• Spontaneously created from nothing (like Quarks
  appear to be) all natural laws etc have
  developed randomly over time
• There are basic laws / creative powers behind
  nature that explain how it has come do develop
  the way it has. This creative power is the final
  explanation of the universe (which some people
  also call God)

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