Non-scientific versions of the answer have invoked many gods and have been the basis of all religions and most philosophy since the beginning of recorded time.
Now a team of mathematicians from Canada and Egypt have used cutting edge scientific theory and a mind-boggling set of equations to work out what preceded the universe in which we live.
In (very) simple terms they applied the
theories of the very small – the world of quantum mechanics – to the whole
universe - explained by general theory of relativity, and discovered the
universe basically goes through four different phases.
More
importantly they discovered what came before this universe was. another
universe or more accurately another ‘cosmological phase’.
Despite
being infinite in size our universe is cyclical and has always existed in one
of four stages.
The
universe is expanding, and the expansion is speeding up, but the team believes
that certain modification motivated by quantum mechanics will ultimately halt
the expansion and pull the whole lot back to a near infinite point – at which
stage the universe will start expanding again.
The
paper, called ''Non-singular and Cyclic Universe from the Modified GUP'',
written by Maha Salah, Fayçal Hammad, Mir Faizal, Ahmed Farag Ali, is super
complex but Prof. Mir Faizal outlined the main points of this paper.
According
to him they have incorporated quantum mechanical effects in cosmology using an
approach called the modified GUP.
This
approach changes the equation for cosmology in a very interesting way. It
predicts four distinct phases for our universe - the present phase of the
universe being just one of those phases.
There
is a phase before the big bang in this cosmological model, and it is possible
to know about that phase of the universe by studying the physics of present
phase of our universe
Professor
Mir Faizal said: “In our cosmological model the universe did not start with the
big bang, but there was a phase transition from one phase of the universe to
another.
“This
is possible because the universe can exist in four different phases, like
ordinary water can exist in three different phases. Just as we can know about
the properties of ice, by studying water which has formed from it, we can know
about pre big bang cosmology by studying the physics of this universe.
“Using
our cosmological model, we can study the physics of the cosmological phase
before the beginning of our universe.''
In
their model they have been able to study the pre–Big Bang state of the
universe. The equations in their model predict that the expansion of the
universe will come to a halt and then will immediately be followed by a
contracting phase.
Prof
Mir added: “When the equations are extrapolated beyond the maximum rate of
contraction, a cyclic universe scenario emerges. “Other cosmologists have
suggested a big bang and big crunch scenario – but those models have
singularities.
“Singularities
are bad in physics as they indicate a place where the laws of physics
breakdown, and at such places one cannot use physics to get meaningful results.
“This
new cosmological model does away with such singularity. The big bang
singularity can therefore also be avoided by using the modified GUP-corrections
to the cosmology.”
In
their cosmology model, the cyclic nature of the universe occurs as a result of
incorporating quantum effects into a cosmological model of the universe.
Prof
Faizal explained that even though there are many different mind-bending
approaches to quantum gravity, like string theory and loop quantum gravity,
what most of these different approaches have in common is that there is a
minimum length below which space does not exist.
Many
of these approaches also predict that there is also a maximum energy and no
object in the universe can have an energy beyond that maximum energy.
They
research team incorporated the effect of having a minimum length and a maximum
energy into a cosmological model, and then they ended up with a cyclic
universe.
Asked
about the philosophical and even possible theological implications of his work
Prof. Mir said: ''No one draws any philosophical or theological implications of
a finite or an infinite spatial dimension, and time is just another dimension,
so why should it be treated any differently.
“In
any case, I do not believe in a God of gaps, with big bang being a big gap, but
in a God who made the mathematics describing reality so perfect that there are
no gaps, not now and not at big bang.''
Prof Faizal has also worked on the Large Hadron Collider investigating doors to other universes.
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