The Big Bounce
Not necessarily the “Big Bang.”
The most common and accepted theory about how the universe started is the Big Bang Theory, which is more of an expansion than a bang made by a cosmic singularity. The Ekpyrotic Theory similarly states that the universe expanded and cooled down, and that it is still expanding, but there was no singularity which started it all.
The Ekpyrotic Theory explains that galaxies will eventually drift apart to the point where light from one galaxy can never reach another in the future, because there will one day be no more heat and light when stars die. The universe will be an ominous, cold, and barren emptiness. This is what occurs when two cold, empty branes (objects with any given number of dimensions. In this case, our universe is a 3-brane.) meet, which they will eventually do given enough time. Such a collision, according to cosmologists Paul Steinhardt and Neil Turok, would produce enough energy to create an entirely new universe. Physicists refer to it as the “Ekpyrotic Theory.”
The Ekpyrotic model proposes that the universe had no beginning, and will never have an end. Instead of a bang, what happened is widely thought of as a “Big Bounce”, when the universe “bounced” into expansion. This is based on a string theory, which sees particles as one-dimensional strings.
Quantum mechanics and relativity usually dispute. String theory tries to bring together all four fundamental forces and sees the universe on a larger scale, while quantum mechanics sees it on an extremely small scale. General relativity suggests a predictable and serene universe, quantum mechanics sees it as complete chaos where you can only rely on probabilities and predictions.
There are many theories as to how the universe starts and ends, and it will take many years to come to a general conclusion. For now, models like the Ekpyrotic are some of scientists’ best conclusions, but are they even close to the truth?
RELATED STORIES:
Strange Theories About The Universe
Ekpyrotic Theory Says The Universe Started With A Big Bounce
