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Post by caseagainstfaith on Jun 16, 2011 14:01:11 GMT -5
So I just got done watching "Through the wormhole with Morgan Freeman" Season Premiere and I figured I would bring the debate here for fun.
Is the universe infinite or finite? Could there be possibly other universes other than our own?
I think the idea that the universe being finite does make sense. I also remember Stephen Hawking also saying there could be a chance of parallel universes which I think would also give credit to the universe being finite then for there to be room for other universes parallel or not. So what do you all think?
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Post by Napoleon the Clown on Jun 16, 2011 16:30:52 GMT -5
If by universe you mean "the borders of that which presently exists" the universe is most likely finite. If things beyond where even light has arrived, I would say infinite, unless there's a physical dimension beyond the three we experience. In that case, it could be a case similar to a sphere, where you end up looping around after going far enough. In which case, finite.
At present, the universe is expanding at a rate that suggests we aren't going to experience the Big Crunch. Of course, there could well be information we don't know about that will lead to everything eventually collapsing back in on itself.
Other thing to muddle it further, the borders of the universe are constantly increasing as light keeps doing its thing. And that brings in the question of how you want to define infinite.
That all being said, infinite or not, as far as human perception goes it may as well be infinite.
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Post by Vene on Jun 16, 2011 16:39:36 GMT -5
My understanding is that the universe has borders that are constantly expanding into infinity.
I don't know shit about the multiverse thing and would love to know of a way to test it.
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Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Jun 16, 2011 17:43:56 GMT -5
Finite in a literal sense, infinite in a philosophical sense.
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Post by Art Vandelay on Jun 17, 2011 0:25:37 GMT -5
As for multiple universes, I would think it's quite possible if by "multiple universes", you mean other massive clusters of galaxies existing outside sufficiently far away from our own to qualify as a separate universe. Parallel universes, however, not so much.
As for being infinite, I think space and time are. Energy and matter, however, are most likely not (at least until we figure out either where it comes from in the first place or how to get around the law of conservation of energy).
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Post by Hades on Jun 17, 2011 8:00:18 GMT -5
My understanding is that the universe has borders that are constantly expanding into infinity. That's how I understand it as well, but it's not just expanding. It's expanding at an increasing rate. The reason is dark energy. The name "dark energy" is just a temporary tag for the observation of the increasing rate of expansion. What dark energy actually is, they still don't know. That's about as much as I (think I) know. |
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