General astronomy discussion

Re: our universe, one of many "bubbles"?

Dark Matter Dave — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:58:12 GMT

I don't have a problem with thinking that there very well could be as many universes as there are stars. For all we know the big bang could have looked just like those pictures they take in particle accelerators when they smash atoms. And also if that was the creation of space/time, if only the space/time we observe. For the question of what is in these bubbles each might be made up of a singularity, but the real question of this theory is just how deep the water is in our boiling pot of water, or just where our bubble is from the surface or even of how long that bubble stays on the surface before it pops. In addition, if there is bubble universes, there must be a way they are connected in either their creation or until a certain event triggers something.

Re: our universe, one of many "bubbles"?

Shady — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:37:58 GMT

Good evening Shadowfox.

What are the bubbles supposed to be made of?

Re: our universe, one of many "bubbles"?

AnonymousRex — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 01:06:45 GMT

I haven't read the article in question but I have read up on various multiverse ideas.

Personally, I don't have a problem believing that this thing we've been calling the universe might really just be the next "container" size up from Galaxy. It wasn't all that long ago that the Milky Way was thought to be the whole universe. If you go back far enough you'd probably find people whose word for "universe" meant the local jungle and group of caves.

But every advance in our understanding of things seems to point to bigger and bigger space. So, just as our universe grew from the Earth to the Solar system, and from the local system to the Milky Way, and from the Milky Way to a space full of galaxies just like ours, it seems reasonable to me that all of existence should be even bigger, and that perhaps "universe" really just means the next biggest grouping of stuff. In fact, given our history of discoveries in this area I would have a harder time accepting that this bubble is alone.

What I do have a hard time believing is that a multiverse must necessarily be at odds with El Bango Grande. I chalk up any such mutual exclusivity to the predictions of specific theories rather than to the concept itself. Meaning, I haven't read anything yet that definitively precludes what to me is a logical possibility: that here in these four dimensions, and regardless of what may or may not be happening in others, universe bubbles are banging into existence all over the place in the same way ours did.

Of course that's a philosophical prediction rather than a scientific one, so treat it as roughly as you like. But if one bubble of stuff can be born in a big bang, why not others? How many one-off things have we actually discovered out there? Zero?

Re: our universe, one of many "bubbles"?

Callistonian — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:59:51 GMT

I'm a much bigger fan of BBT than a multiverse of bubbles. The article was very interesting, thought provoking, but it's still too new for me to really buy yet.

Only time will tell..... maybe.

Re: our universe, one of many "bubbles"?

StarFarmer — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:32:18 GMT

I also read the "Bubble Universe Theory" with great interest, although I came away from it more than a bit confused. After trying to explain the "Calabi-Yau Manifold Theory" to my friends(Astronomy/April 2008) I now feel there may be some pies thrown in my face. Could the two be related somehow? I hope this is not just a bunch of science fiction. The BBT still works in my books.

our universe, one of many "bubbles"?

RIP_Shadowfox — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:57:27 GMT

i read the main article of Astronomy magazine a couple months ago about our universe being a "bubble" in a multiverse filled with other bubbles. i find this idea fascinating. mainly because i've never been a supporter of the BBT (it just doesn't seem possible to me) and its an interesting alternative. of course, the only problem is actual proof... still, i'd love to hear everyone's take on it.