Comment

True, but there is thought to be a finite amount of matter + energy, which cannot be created or destroyed. And since it is spreading out from an original dense point, it stands to reason that there would be a vacuum area that it has not reached yet.

source

Sort:hotnew top

roscoe@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Our current understanding of the big bang is not that it did out from one place, it happened everywhere all at once. If the universe is infinite, it started from zero volume and infinite density then immediately became infinite in volume and finite in density. The density of matter/energy is what is finite, not the amount of matter/energy, that is infinite (if the universe is infinite). Then there was a period of rapid inflation, then is settled down to the inflation we see today.

Infinite or finite, the universe is not spreading out into anything, the distances between points are simply increasing.

source
- jerkface@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  
  it started from zero volume
  
  This is not true. It started with apparently infinite volume. This is the confusing nature of infinities.
  
  source
- flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  It’s so obvious, to me, to think of the universe as occurring 'in a box’and that expansion happening like someone is inflating a balloon inside it - so we’re running out of room as such.
  
  Take away the box and my brain just melts. I’m not very familiar with this stuff, however
  
  source
  - VoterFrog@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    The important thing in the balloon analogy isn’t what the balloon is expanding into, it’s just that every point on the balloon is drifting away from every other point.
    
    One thing to consider, though, is that space may not even be a real physical thing. Maybe location is just a property of things, like mass or electrical charge. It could just be an inherent value that adjusts and influences other things according to the laws of physics. Maybe it’s less that “space is expanding” and just that “the location property of everything is constantly diverging.” There’s no need to worry about what anything is expanding into because our conception of space may just be a mental construct.
    
    source
    flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    …absolutely wild
    
    source
mmddmm@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Hum, no. It’s widely believed that the amount of matter + energy in the universe changes all the time.

source
jerkface@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
That’s not at all how it works. In particular, it didn’t start from an original, dense point. It started everywhere, with nearly uniform density apparently infinitely in all directions.

source