Current work (still in process)

by Bruce Camber, New Orleans

Not too many people question the big bang theory (herein abbreviated bbt). We do. Back in September 2014 for the first time we publicly raised questions about the bbt.

The world-renown Cambridge University physicist, Stephen Hawking, is the leading spokesperson for the bbt. He has become a rock star among scientists because he has been so successful as its primary advocate.

Within his May 2016 PBS-TV series, Genius, he asks rhetorically, “Where did the universe come from? The answer, as most people can tell you, is the big bang. Everything in existence, expanding exponentially in every direction,from an infinitely small, infinitely hot, infinitely dense point, creating a cosmos filled with energy and matter. But what does that really mean and where did it all begin?” His confidence also exudes from his 1988, best-selling book, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, and even from his foundational writing in 1973 (co-authored with Cambridge colleague, George F. R. Ellis) the highly-technical book, The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time.

Only a fool would dare challenge all this work over so many years.

So, such is life; each of us must sometime play the fool. With these facts and the basic premise established, this posting is a “rough draft.” It should become a first draft by July 4. Given the depth and breadth of the foundations upon which the big bang theory (bbt) currently rests, your comments while this posting is being refined, are most welcomed. If this embedded link does not open your email browser, my address is camber (at) bblu (dot) org or go to the Contact page. There are many key images for the big bang theory such as this image above right. More images will be added over time. Most links related to the bbt go to Wikipedia pages. Images for our model, called a Quiet Expansion (QE), will be added soon.

The key to our model is multiplication by 2, starting with the Planck base units. Those pivotal Planck calculations were done in 1899 by Max Planck. Our simple work of multiplying them by 2, and then each result by 2, over and over and over again began in December 2011. We discovered that you readily emerge at the Age of the Universe and the Observable Universe, all in just 201 steps.

That is crazy, but true. It is called “base-2 exponential notation.” It’s what cells do. It’s a bit like chemical bonding. Bifurcation theory describes another element of its dynamic. In just 201 doublings, layers or groups, you can capture the entire universe in an entirely-ordered fashion! Beyond belief? Our web presence, Big Board-little universe, can provide more background about our rather brief history.

We’ve used the Wikipedia summaries of the big bang. Wikipedia appears to represent the current thinking of most within the relevant scientific communities. These scientists have lived within this theory throughout their professional careers. It is part of their intellectual being. We believe most all of their work can be absorbed within the QE. It is just from the starting point to the inflationary epoch — less than a fraction of a fraction of a second — are pointedly questioned. With a little-but-substantial tweak, we believe all the work on the subsequent epochs can be readily integrated.

The writers within the Wikipedia community overlap with those within these scientific communities. Wikipedia, constantly in the process of refining their writing, provides several summaries of the History of the Universe based on the most current work of leading thinkers within the scientific community. The work that is based on observations has a place within the QE. Our guess is that those observations will become richer and more informative when the QE parameters and boundary conditions are engaged.

Are space-and-time unbounded or bounded? If bounded, is our universe a container universe? Are the Planck base units and all the dimensionless constants part of the definitions of the boundaries between the finite and the infinite?

Within the current bbt analysis gravitational waves arise from within their inflationary period. The bbt thought leaders ascribe a much faster-than-light expansion just after the big bang. And, that begs the question: What are the preconditions of superluminal events and motion? There haven’t been any answers since 1902 when Jacobus Kapteyn made his initial observations, since the 1983 “superluminal workshop” at Jodrell Bank Observatory, and since the subsequent studies of microquasars, their accretion disks and such phenomenon as magnetorotational instability. It is all a very special language, logic and reality; the observational results are well-defined; yet, we believe the most-penetrating conclusions are pending.

In 1970 there were competing theories about the beginning of the universe. By 1990 the bbt had become dominant. In 2011 our little group of high school geometry people began to explore the interior structures of the tetrahedron and octahedron and that is when we found within our tilings and tessellations, just over 201 base-2 exponential notations from the Planck base units to the Age of the Universe and to the Observable Universe. That continuum appeared so simple, we first engaged it as an excellent STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) tool. Yet, with further study and thought, it also seemed to challenge some of our basic commonsense assumptions about nature (the back story). As we studied our new little model, the bbt continued to solidify its dominance within the general culture and we started to question it. We began to believe that the actual physics of the first moments of creation might be better defined by the simple mathematics of a quiet expansion, especially the first 67 notations. Those 67 have never been recognized as such and certainly have not been discussed within academia. The great minds throughout the ages have been unaware of the 201+ base-2 notations and those first 67 notations. So mysterious were the 67, we began more actively to think about them and to make some postulations about their place and purpose.

Our first posting about this Quiet Expansion is a result of our naive, informal, and often idiosyncratic studies of the Planck Base Units, base-2 exponential notation, and an inherent geometry assumed (hypothesized, hypostatized, and/or imputed) to be within every scale (doubling, layer, notation, step, etc) throughout the universe. We have moved slowly. Having backed into the Planck base units from our simple exercises in a high school geometry class, we were not at all sure of ourselves. So, after observing our results for a couple of years, we began asking the question, “Could this be a more-simple, more-inclusive model of the universe than the big bang theory?” Because we only have the beginnings of an outline of a model, we continued our quest and continued to ask more questions:

• Can all the results of the Lambda-CDM cosmological model and the Standard Model be found and supported within our base-2 UniverseView? Rather boldly we suspect that the answer is, “Yes.” And, we are bold-or-stupid enough to say that all physical observations within the Big Bang cosmology will be supported within our Quiet Expansion. If so, the net result is a much more simple model of the universe.
• Are Einstein’s general theory of relativity and Newton’s mechanics supported by the base-2 UniverseView? Of course.
• Are space and time finite, discrete and quantized? Yes, that is our assumption.
• To answer the question, “Then, what is infinite?,” we answer: (1) Continuity which creates every manifestation of order (equations), (2) symmetry which creates relations, and (3) dynamics, best described through harmonic analysis. Here, it seems, is the basis for natural law, ethics, value and more.
• This posting assumes that the reader understands the simple history of this project and has engaged a few of the many earlier postings. Again, our big bang analysis uses Wikipedia, “The Chronology of the Universe” (as of May 2016). The Quiet Expansion analysis uses the Big Board-little universe charts. So, let’s take a closer look.

Who? What? Why? When? Where? How?

Who: The history of the Big Bang Theory (bbt) is highly documented. It is an intellectual cornerstone within experimental and theoretical physics, cosmology, and astrophysics.
What: To challenge the bbt appears foolhardy at best. Yet, there are many, many reasons to challenge it, but most of all because (1) it is overly complex and confusing, (2) it is not very good philosophy, and (3) it is very poor psychology.
Why: The first three key parts of the bbt, involving substantially less than a trillionth of a second, are based on hunches and a need to shoehorn data to support the model.

Wikipedia says, “Planck scale is beyond current physical theories; it has no predictive value. The Planck epoch is assumed (or theorized) to have been dominated by quantum effects of gravity.” We say that the Planck scale is the starting point for the initial 24 notations (de facto defined by the bbt) and that these notations are shared by everything, everywhere in the universe. Painfully aware of the limitations of our vocabulary, these first notations are considered to be archetypal forms, structure and substance. Archetypal is used in the sense of the original pattern or model by which all things of the same type are representations, the prototype, or a perfect example. For more, see each of the four pages (24 columns) encapsulating notations 1-24 (opens in a new window or tab).

Both models have made key assumptions. We believe the QE model is internally more consistent, imaginative, and stimulating.

The key: More than just the bbt‘s four forces of nature within the Planck scale, we assume a certain unification of all five Planck base units and those constants that define them, and that this unification is carried through the entire 201+ notations to the current time and present day (until proven to be otherwise). The Planck base units are defined by length, time, mass, temperature and charge. These Planck units are further defined by the speed of light (or special relativity), the gravitational constant (or general relativity), the reduced Planck constant (or ħ or quantum mechanics), the Coulomb constant (or ε₀ or electric charge or electromagnetism), and the Boltzmann constant (or k_B or of temperature).

The Planck scale is not beyond logic, numbers, and conceptual integrity. Homogeneity, isotropy and simple logic rule. Yet, within the Quiet Expansion (QE) model, we have followed a simple logic and placed the Planck Temperature at the top of the scale, just beyond the 201st notation and then it goes down, approaching Absolute Zero. We are increasingly finding a simple relational logic between the Planck base units. Of course, this logic will be revisited with every future analysis of the QE model. Within the QE model, the Planck Charge, a Coulombs value, is taken as it is given. Within the bbt, the Planck Charge is ignored and the bbt value is postulated to be as large as possible. Their measurement is given in GeV units, one billion electron volts. Add 10¹⁶ zeroes to it and you have a charge unlike any other! It is the penultimate, grand assumption that truly requires a leap of faith!

To begin to understand all these numbers and their correlations, questions are asked, “Are these all non-repeating, never-ending numbers like Pi? Are all numbers that are non-repeating and never-ending somehow part of the infinite yet also the beginning of quantum mechanics?” The suggestion has been made that we carry out each number 10 decimal places, and if need be, 100 decimal places, and possibly even 1000 decimal places, to see if patterns can be discerned.

The QE model holds that things are simple before complex and everything is related to everything. Imputed, hypostatized and/or hypothesized are pointfree vertices and simple geometries as the deep infrastructure that gives rise to the work on combinatorics, cellular automaton, cubic close packing, bifurcation theory (and the Feigenbaum’s constants), Langlands program, mereotopology ( point-free geometry), the 80-known binary operations, and scalar field theory. Here are people working on theories and constructions of the simple, yet their concepts are anything but simple.
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When: In the very beginning… Wikipedia says that the Planck epoch requires speculative proposals, a “New Physics” such as “…the Hartle–Hawking initial state, string landscape, string gas cosmology, and the ekpyrotic universe.” Each is a conceptually-rich, dense jungle of ideas. Cutting through that entanglement is only for the highly-motivated and academically astute. Most of us will just go on to the grand unification epoch, in search of a logical system that builds consistently upon itself. About the bbt model, Wikipedia simply says, “The three forces of the Standard Model are unified.” Of course, the QE goes much further, however, first consider a bbt problem. Electromagnetism, gravitation, weak nuclear interaction, and strong nuclear interaction are most often related to relations defined above the 65th notation.

Wikipedia says, “Cosmic inflation expands space by a factor of the order of 10²⁶ over a time of the order of 10⁻³³ to 10⁻³² seconds.^[1] The universe is supercooled from about 10²⁷ down to 10²² kelvins.^[6] The Strong Nuclear Force becomes distinct from the Electroweak Force.” ^[1] (Our emphasis) First, consider that the Planck Temperature is 1.416 83×10³² Kelvin. The bbt totally skips the cooling from 10³² to 10²⁷ Kelvin. It does not address what causes the cooling to 10²² Kelvin. Also, consider the amount of expansion and the short duration assumed in their statement above. To create that much space in that short of an interval would require light to travel so far beyond its normal speed, it would constitute the penultimate anomaly.

Also, because the bbt begins at the Planck Temperature, they truly need a supercooled concept. With the Quiet Expansion these temperatures are all superconducting being well below the superconducting transition temperatures. Perhaps the very concept of temperature will become better understood as a result of our struggles to define a different model of the universe.

About this inflationary epoch, Wikipedia says, “The forces of the Standard Model have separated, but energies are too high for quarks to coalesce into hadrons, instead forming a quark-gluon plasma. These are the highest energies directly observable in experiment in the Large Hadron Collider.”

Within the QE, if a quark-gluon plasma requires 10¹² Kelvin, it is not possible until up around Notation 136 where the temperature is up to 1.92016×10¹² Kelvin. Notation 136 is 4.6965×10^-3 seconds from the singularity. One second is between Notations 143 and 144. Also, the Kelvin scale is counter-intuitive in many ways. The temperature of the Sun is about 5,778 K. Within the QE, that is expressed between Notations 107 and 108 (7.153178×10³ K). The human temperature at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit is 310.15 Kelvin which is between Notations 103 and 104 (4.47073×10² K). Also, at Notation 103 we find the Planck Length is now .163902142 millimeters or 1.63902142×10^-4 meters or about the size of a human egg.

The exacting nature of the correlations between the multiples of the Planck base units is just being explored for the first time. Within the QE everything everywhere is related through simple mathematics.

In Wikipedia, their category experts say, “The physics of the electroweak epoch is less speculative and much better understood than the physics of previous periods of the early universe. The existence of W and Z bosons has been demonstrated, and other predictions of electroweak theory have been experimentally verified.”

Finally the the bbt gives us something that isn’t incomplete or highly speculative. Yet, even with such assurance, the logic of the bbt is difficult to follow. Again, within the QE model the only duration that would allow for W and Z bosons is about 30 notations away, somewhere around notation 65. There is just not enough “conceptual” space and time for elementary particles and their effects.

By the way, within this simple, highly-integrated progression, there is the first measurement that has a visceral meaning for us. At Notation 32 the mass of the universe is 93.48 kilograms or about 206 pounds. By Notation 40 it is up to 2.39×10⁴ kilograms. The universe is bulking up quickly and it is creating space and time as it goes.

Also, consider this unusual concept: within every notation, the QE model aggregates base-8 pointfree vertices using scaling laws and dimensional analysis (recommended by Prof. Dr. Freeman Dyson). There are single line entries for both the base-2 and base-8 progressions within the horizontally-scrolled chart.

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The bbt’s Quark Epoch generalizes 63 of the QE notations, from 41 to 104. These notations within the QE model are foundational so perhaps this comparison to Quark Epoch is a key. Consider the estimated requirement for temperature. The bbt epochs can not begin until the temperature is cool enough. Given that temperature requirement, within the QE model, the Quark Epoch would not begin until up-and-around Notation 136 where the temperature has finally risen to 1.9201×10¹² Kelvin. If that is the right range, as suggested by proponents of the bbt, less than a second has transpired, the universe has a diameter of about 874 square miles and a mass of about 1.896×10³² kilograms.

Within the QE model from around Notations 65 to 69 is the transition from the small scale to the human scale. This “human scale” is the middle third of the 201 notations, i.e. 67-to-134. Even though two-thirds of the way through the 201 doublings, less than a second has transpired from the start.

In the Quark Epoch the bbt and QE begin to cross paths and overlap. Wikipedia says, “Quarks are bound into hadrons. Over the hadron epoch, the process of baryogenesis results in an elimination of anti-hadrons (baryon asymmetry).” As noted within Wikipedia, some of these perceptions come directly out of the laboratory, such as CERN in Geneva, where this phenomenon has been observed. So, other than the improbable placement within the time/temperature curve, all processes herein after become readily integrated within the QE model. The bbt and QE have overlapped and begun to become simpatico.

A key question within the QE model is, “What is a notation?” Also known as a cluster, doubling, group, layer, set, and/or step, each word is perspectival and each notation is dynamic, always in the process of being defined, right up to the current time within the 201st notation. Each notation has an active role in defining who we are and what this universe is; and, each notation has an active role in defining all other notations. Today, right now, all of these notations activelyf define humanity or the human scale (67-to-134), must therefore be something like the archetypes of forms and functions (notations 1-to-67) that define our deeper beingness. The notations from 134-to-200 define our planetary and galactic systems and this is where most of the work of those physicists, cosmologist, and astrophysicists have worked.

In just a few more notations, between 142 and 143, the universe is at the one second mark. This measurement is most often used to determine the speed of light. Yet, as noted in earlier postings, within every notation, the Planck length divided by the multiple of the Planck Time renders an approximation of the speed of light. It is just commonsense when we see that the speed of light plays prominently in the definitions of Planck Length and Planck Time.

The question to be answered, “What is the meaning of temperature? …within the bbt? Within the QE model, we impute that it is the total temperature throughout the area defined by the notation (or cluster, container, domain, doubling, group, layer, or step). This measurement within the Hadron Epoch within the bbt is now lower than it is within the QE. There is a natural correlation between all these numbers within the QE simply because they start with the same definitional characteristics (the Planck base units) and the evolution of those numbers using base-2 exponential notation. The ratio of length to temperature renders .73322+ ratio. That result is currently being analyzed, space-to-temperature or kelvin per meters.

In 1972 George Ellis and Stephen Hawking began to explore the boundary conditions that define our universe between 10^-13 centimeters (elementary particles) and 10²⁸ cm, the assumed radius of the universe. They did not approach the Planck base units which would have expanded their range to 1.616199×10⁻³⁵ meters (Planck Length) and then it would have tucked them in at about 5.1942×10²⁵ meters according to current best guesses regarding the Age of the Universe.

With very few exceptions, it was not until Frank Wilczek (MIT) wrote a series of articles,
in 2001, Scaling Mt. Planck, (Physics Today), did anybody think these Planck numbers amounted to anything more than numerology. It would take another ten more years before we would come along, naively doing our thing with base-2 exponential notation, so we are confident that all the proponents of the big bang have not engaged our quiet expansion model.

Earlier it was observed that the big bang is not good philosophy and it is bad psychology. Philosophy is taken as a study of first principles and systems, the universals and constants that create the boundary conditions as well as the continuity equations that bind our universe together. Since 1972, especially with the very key question about the very nature of the first microseconds, the bbt has not progressed very far. Their Planck epoch is still mysterious. It is bad psychology for that very reason. It is so disjointed, so out of touch with anything human, it de facto promotes a certain form of nihilism.

Theories should have elegance, beauty, coherence, and simplicity. Children should be able
to begin to understand. And with the QE, children quickly begin to understand 2 times 2.
We just have to carry it out a few more places for them.

***

Disclaimer: Our charts and discussion are our first time to make a comparative analysis
between the big bang theory (herein abbreviated bbt) and our Quiet Expansion (QE).
Silly errors are inevitable. We are neophytes, not scholars, within these fields,
so please point out any of our failures with logic, math, and physics. We will be most grateful.

This ends the first story about two very different models of the universe. Of course, it is a story that is to be continued.