the big rip theory

[steven]

Hi, I would like to hear your thoughts the Big Rip theory; is it really due? When? What would happen after?

[Kai]

What would happen after?

The end of the Universe as we know it ????

[Bufferz]

more of a "big crunch" man myself - universe expands to its limit, then collapses in on itself, creating a new big bang and the whole process starting again.......

[AstroTiger]

more of a "big crunch" man myself - universe expands to its limit, then collapses in on itself, creating a new big bang and the whole process starting again.......

i would love to believe that to, and it would be consistant with the way of nature

[narrowbandpaul]

unfortunately these theories seem like they will never occur...dark energy is accelerating the expansion of the universe. It will expand forever, always cooling. All the stars will die and the temperature will approach 0K...a terrible fate for a wonderful thing, dont you think?

What is the big rip theory? I wish the big crunch would happen...seems more elegant

[Paxo]

Although the big bang is usually regarded as the start of everything, new theories of space and time point to a radically different scenario where the big bang was more of a 'big bounce' from an earlier universe.

It has even been proposed by some theorists that it may be possible to probe back before the big bang, to find out more about the universe before our own. Some of these new theories , collectively known as theories of cyclic universes, are to be put to the start test with the launch of Planck.

There are two popular theories:

M-Theory, this is a unification theory to explain all the forces and particles known today and has led to the possibility that our 4D universe is part of a multi-dimensional membrane (hence the M-Theory). According to M-Theory the big bang no longer starts with a singularity, but as a collision between two membranes releasing massive amounts of energy (the big bang). This theory avoids the obvious problems of having the singularity.

Loop Quantum Gravity, this shows the view of space and time as a type of 'fabric' made up of sub-atomic loops acting together to create the force we call gravty. As with the above theory, LQG no longer has the problematic singularity. However, LQG gives a clearer account of before the big bang, where a previous universe collapsed down on itself before re-expanding to form a new-universe. Instead of collapsing to a singularity, the universe collapsed down to a small but finite size, temperature and density.

The problem of course with these cyclic universe theories id the lack of knowledge about the fundamental equations we should be using to understandbefore the big bang. The main plus point is that both theories don't rely on the need for a singularity.

Just thought I would post these ideas into the pot regarding current research into before the big bang. I'm not saying there right or wrong, just posting for discussion.

Steve..

[Sam]

Thanks for posting that Steve. I've read a couple of books that have touched on these areas but I never really followed them that well - your summary has just given me enough to nearly understand the basics of the different theories.

The concept of looking back beyond the big bang, bounce or whatever is quite mind boggling. :shock:

[Paxo]

Your not wrong there LB.

Steve..