How did the universe begin?

[cee-dee]

Durham University has a new physics centre and they aim to "find out how the Universe began":-

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/how-universe-begin-11m-new-12719998

So, how do YOU think the Universe began?

Me? OK, I'll have my say then it's over to you eh?

We (think) we know that Black Holes swallow matter of all sorts and we can "see" it happening as a Black Hole "feeds" off a star that's "ventured" a bit too close? OK so what's causing the Black Hole to do that? Gravity?

OK, so we know that if some space object ventures too close to another Planet or Star, gravity will draw it in and the object will collide with whatever's drawn it in?

So, if gravity does that, what's to stop many things from being "sucked in" to an ever increasing Black Hole which has "sucked in" all the other Black Holes over trillions of years (of our time) until it's sucked in more or less everything in the Universe? Such a mass of stuff with such immense gravity would have unbelievable pressure on the matter it's "sucked in", extreme pressure means heat?

The immense pressure and heat reach a critical point beyond which the whole lot explodes. The matter and gas get flung out where eventually blobs of matter become Stars as they cool. Those Stars "live" and "die", their remnants being attracted together along with clouds of gas all of which form other Stars, some with Planets, the lot leading to the evolution of the Universe all over again?

There, my idea, what's yours?

[mustard-tree]

Sounds good to me, but that raises another question

How did the original Black Hole(s) form in the first place.

[cee-dee]

There are more questions than answers.

I think those concerned with the speculation might answer that their quest is to find out/decide how the Universe "as we know it" began.

Considering the wider aspects, more questions would follow like "Where did the matter come from in the first place?"

Thinking about that, another question thrown up is "Is matter indestructible?" If not, then matter can be created too so that "answers" where matter came from.........

[upthecreekyetagain]

How does any of that explain how the universe is not only expanding but that that expansion is accelerating not decelerating?

[cee-dee]

The acceleration and expansion is not the question. The question is how it all began.

[upthecreekyetagain]

But if the expansion of the universe is accelerating then your theory is not possible.

[cee-dee]

Prove it.

[jd.linklater]

I don't think we are any nearer to understanding the origins of the universe than we were at the dawn of science. Whichever theory you are inclined towards you always end up with the conundrum that something was created from nothing which in our present experience is an impossibility.

The Big Bang Theory which the majority of scientific minds subscribe to suggests that initially there was nothing but energy but that breaks down immediately because there must have been a power source initially to produce energy. If the Universe didn't exist, where did the power source originate?

Likewise with the formation of the elements which make up the universe. We know that each atom of Hydrogen contains one proton, add another proton and it becomes Helium, add another it becomes Lithium and so on up the periodic table. By that rationale there must have been Hydrogen before anything else, so where did it come from?

You really could drive yourself nuts thinking about this, which I guess is the reason that a lot of people still put it down to God's handiwork. That's not a view I hold but it does seem pretty miraculous it has to be said. I don't think we'll be any closer to finding an answer until we understand the nature of dark matter and the part it may have played in the beginning. Latest thinking suggests that 85% of the universe is dark matter, where did it all come from?

Oops there's another one ??????  

[cee-dee]

Going back to my OP, how do YOU think the Universe (as we know it) began.

The wider issues are another matter? One wider issue is.... what about "The Universe" we don't (yet) know about which brings up another question, is "our" Universe the only one? So many questions, no answers but lets try and stick with my OP for now as thinking people must surely have their own ideas?

[soppysofty]

In answer to your question try Genesis Chapter 1.  The answer is there!

As an aside a group of scientist requested an audience with God and the conversation went as follows:

Scientists - God, we have discovered how to create life.

God - that is interesting, show me.

Scientists - first we take 3 pounds of soil.....

God - Make your own soil.

[upthecreekyetagain]

We know the universe started with a 'big bang' because as Professor Brian Cox puts it, "we can see it"

If we accept that then as others have said the question arises as to what caused the 'big bang'.  The answer at the moment is, "nobody knows".  Stephen Hawking theorises that there was nothing prior to the 'big bang' - most importantly no time.  His explanation of the singularity that started the universe is quite frankly way over my head, linked to M-theory and the instantaneous creation of multiple universes.

Hawking also suggests that because time was created by the 'big bang' then the idea of repeating 'big bangs' is not possible.

There are patently forces in the universe that we haven't yet discovered - there must be something that is causing the universe to expand at an increasing rate, this has been named 'dark energy' within the scientific community but has not yet been directly detected.

All this begs the question, "how do I think the Universe began?" - the only answer has to be, "I don't know" - how can I make a suggestion when I can't even understand the suggestions put forward by the leading minds in this field.  I might just as well suggest it started with a giant jam donut!

[cee-dee]

Well, if nothing else, that was an honest reply.

[cee-dee]

I suppose what comes in to it must be Newtons first Law of Motion. Put simply = an object, when propelled by a force will continue in the direction of that force until acted upon by another force.

[fallen-archie]

I would love to make a meaningful contribution but I cannot because I was rubbish at physics. I have no idea why we exist or how we came to be here in the first place. Vexing isn't it?

[astrologica]

I don't really care how it began, or how it will end. Thinking about it gives me a headache. So I am just going to try and enjoy my time on this wonderful miraculous Earth while I am here. 🙂

[cee-dee]

Well now, you can enjoy it for a few more billion years before the Earth gets roasted to a crisp by the Sun.

[jd.linklater]

Newton's First Law only holds up in a vacuum. If we assume that space is a vacuum and that everything in the Universe is subject to that law, then Newton's Law  does explain the expansion of the Universe, it has been expanding since the big bang because there is nothing to stop it. But if that is the case then dark matter particles have no gravity, if they did the expansion would gradually stop and the Universe would collapse in on itself. Unless of course the Universe has a boundary and is expanding into nothing which would mean there is no matter of any description ahead of the expansion to hold it up.

As has already been said, more questions than answers and every possible answer throws up more questions. And none of them throw any light on what started it all off.

[cee-dee]

If "it" wasn't a vacuum, then the Law would still apply because even if there's no vacuum, there must be something or other exerting a force on the moving objects.

[jd.linklater]

Newton's Law is more easily perceived in a vacuum because there is no air resistance (force) to halt its progress. If there was air in space then the expansion would have stoped long ago. 

[upthecreekyetagain]

Einstein showed that Newton's Laws of Motion are only valid when viewed from a single physical point and in a single moment in time.

An event viewed by someone travelling past at high speed will observe something different to someone stationary in relation to the event.  Not only will the event have different results but will not occur in the same time scale.

Applying Newton's Laws to events occurring further away than the orbit of the Moon doesn't work.