Not many people living in modern society can confidently talk about how the Universe came into being. Few people today think about how it was able to turn into a huge colossal space that does not know specific and clear boundaries. Few people think about what could happen to the Universe in billions of years. Topics of this kind have always tormented the ancient minds of scientists, represented by tireless researchers and philosophers, who, in a fit of momentary insight, created their own masterpieces - interesting and very crazy theories concerning the history of the origin of the Universe .

Modern scientists have gone further within the framework of scientific knowledge than their ancient predecessors. Many astronomers, physicists, and with them cosmologists are convinced that the Universe could have appeared as a result of a large-scale explosion, which could become not only the ancestor of the main part of matter, but also become the basis for the formation of all the most important physical laws that determined the existence of the cosmos. This phenomenon is commonly called the “Big Bang Theory.”

The meaning of the theory

Its basics are extremely simple. The theory states the fact that modern matter and matter that existed in distant, distant antiquity are identical to each other, since in essence they are the same object being studied. All matter was formed approximately 13.8 billion years ago. In those distant times, it existed in the form of a point, or a compactly formed abstract body in the shape of a ball, which in turn had infinite density and a certain temperature. Scientists usually call this state “singularity.” For unknown reasons, this same singularity suddenly began to rapidly expand in different directions, as a result of which the Universe appeared. This point of view is in fact only a hypothesis, and one of the most widespread and popular today. It is accepted by science as an explanation concerning the origin of matter, the basic laws of physics, and the colossal structure of the Universe itself. This is due to the fact that the Big Bang theory describes the reasons that influenced the expansion of the Universe, and it also contains a huge number of other aspects and phenomena associated with limitless space.

Excursion into history

The topic of the Big Bang has become relevant to science since the very beginning of the last century. In 1912, an astronomer from the United States named Vesto Slifer conducted a series of observations of spiral galaxies (previously mistaken for nebulae) for some time, during which the scientist was able to measure the Doppler red shift of these same galaxies. He came to the conclusion that the object of his research was moving further and further away from the Milky Way over a certain time interval. Science did not stand still for a long time, and already in 1922, the Soviet cosmologist and mathematician A. Friedman, relying on the works of Einstein , was able to derive his own equations from equations related to the theory of relativity. It was he who became the first scientist who was able to announce to the scientific community about the expansion of the Universe, expressing only one personal assumption.

Edwin Hubble in 1924 measured the distance from the Earth to the nearest spiral nebula, which proved that there could be other galactic systems nearby. Conducting his experiments using a powerful telescope, the scientist established the relationship formed between the distance of galaxies and the speed at which they moved away from each other.

The Church has always imposed on people the opinion that God created the world in almost a week, that is, in 6 days. This dogma of the Christian religion is actively supported to this day. However, not all church canons are convinced of this point of view.

The founding father of the concept of the Big Bang theory is considered to be the clergyman, Georges Lemaitre. He became the first person to raise before society the question of the origin of such a global boundless space as the Universe. He studied the primitive atom and its transformation of numerous fragments into celestial bodies - stars with galaxies. In 1927, the priest published his own arguments in the newspaper. When the great Einstein got acquainted with Lemaître’s thoughts, he noted that the priest had calculated absolutely everything correctly, but the master was not satisfied with the knowledge of the holy father in the field of physics. The Big Bang theory was accepted only in 1933, when Einstein himself surrendered under the pressure of theses and facts of scientific discovery, recognizing Lemaître’s version as one of the most convincing of all those he had ever encountered. Einstein himself worked on the mystery of the origin of the Universe. The scientist wrote a manuscript in 1931 in which he outlined his version of events, different from the version of Georges Lemaître. The work of another outstanding scientist, Alfred Hoyle, who worked independently of other famous researchers, was written in exactly the same direction in the 1940s.

Einstein was skeptical about one fact that had to be in the Big Bang theory, namely the singularity of matter in which it resided before the explosion. He tried to express his own judgment regarding the endless expansion of outer space. According to his beliefs, matter in the Universe arose out of nowhere; it was needed to maintain cosmic density in conditions of constant expansion. According to Einstein, this process can be described using the theory of relativity, but later the scientist realized that he had made a mistake in his calculations and abandoned his discovery.

A similar theory was held by the world famous science fiction writer Edgar Allan Poe, who pondered the origin of the Universe back in 1848. This man was not a physicist, therefore, all his thoughts did not carry any scientific value due to the fact that they were not supported by any calculations. In addition, in those distant times, the necessary mathematical tools were not invented to allow the calculation of studies of this kind. Poe could only embody his idea in a literary work, which he did with great success, writing the poem “Eureka,” which already talks about such a phenomenon as a black hole and clearly explains Albers’ paradox. The science fiction writer himself called his literary creation a revelation, which humanity had never even heard of before.
Olbers' paradox is an indirect confirmation of the Big Bang theory; it is as follows: if you raise your head at night and see some star (focusing your close attention on it), then a mentally drawn line that begins on the ground on this very star and it will end. Poe, in his Eureka, wrote about a primitive particle, which, according to him, was completely unique and individual. His literary work was subjected to severe criticism, the poem was literally torn to smithereens, and it turned out to be an unsuccessful work from an artistic point of view. Modern scientists, on the contrary, are plunged into confusion; they still cannot understand how a person without a scientific education could predict such facts. According to them, Edgar Allan Poe was far ahead of official scientific knowledge with his book. The discoveries of physicists and astronomers of the 20s and 30s of the last century excited the scientific world, since most scientists adhered to the point of view that the Universe is in a stationary position.

After the end of the Second World War, scientists again began to talk about the Big Bang theory and reflect on its conceptuality. It was this version of the origin of the Universe that was gaining momentum in popularity every year, leaving behind other variations that were proposed from time to time by tireless explorers of space and objects belonging to it.

Time passed, and the Big Bang theory increasingly occupied its niche on the scientific Olympus, and the stationarity of the Universe began to be questioned altogether. In 1965, cosmic microwave background radiation was discovered: a discovery of this kind, which became fundamental, finally strengthened the Big Bang, and the associated birth of the Universe in science. From the 60s to the 90s of the 20th century, a huge number of cosmologists and astronomers carried out a whole series of research works concerning the famous theory, as a result of which they discovered many problems of a theoretical nature and, accordingly, their solutions, which related to the subject of the emergence of a huge Universe from one point .
The fact that singularity is the indisputable initial state of general relativity, as well as the cosmological state of the explosion itself, was stated by the world famous physicist, whose name is known to everyone today, Stephen Hawking. The year 1981 was marked by the appearance of a theory describing the period of rapid expansion of outer space: it, in turn, made it possible to solve a huge number of problematic issues to which no one could previously give a concrete answer.

By the end of the 20th century, many scientists had a genuine interest, accompanied by curiosity, in such an object of study as dark energy. It has been seen as a key to unlocking the importance of many cosmological problems. Scientists were interested in the reason for the loss of weight of the Universe, as well as why dark energy also loses its mass. A hypothesis of this kind was created long ago by the scientist Jan Oort, back in 1932.

In the last decade of the last century, telescopes were intensively created, improved and allowing for a clear survey of outer space. Satellites, stuffed with computer equipment, allow modern scientists to explore literally every millimeter of the Universe, and transmit data through the satellite system directly to research centers of various countries.

Where did the name come from

The author of the name for the Big Bang theory was its opponent Alfred Hoyle, an English physicist. It was he who came up with the phrase “Big Bang”, but the physicist did this not to elevate Lemaître’s judgment, but rather to humiliate him, declaring him an absurdity, and not the greatest phenomenon in the field of cosmology, physics and astronomy.

Chronology of events

Modern researchers who have reliable information about the state of affairs in the Universe come to a consensus that everything was created from a point. The ever-increasing infinite density and finite time must certainly have had their own beginning at a certain point. When the initial expansion occurred, according to the above-mentioned theory, the Universe was able to go through a cooling phase, which co-created subatomic particles, and a little later, the simplest atoms. After some time, huge clouds consisting of the original ancient elements, thanks solely to gravity, began to form stars, which now absolutely anyone can see every night, and galaxies where, according to ufologists, there may be parallel worlds and highly developed civilizations concentrated alien creatures. This whole mechanism, according to researchers, started exactly 13.8 billion years ago: therefore, this starting point can be indicated as the age of the Universe. In the course of studying a huge amount of theoretical information, conducting numerous experiments that were based on the use of particle accelerators and all kinds of high-energy states, and examining the far hidden corners of outer space using a telescope, a chronological event was established that began with the Big Bang and led the Universe to its modern form, or as physicists and astronomers otherwise call it - to the “state of cosmic evolution”.

There is an opinion among scientists that the initial periods of the formation of outer space could last from 10-43 to 10-11 seconds from the explosion; however, there is no clear opinion on this matter today. It is worth keeping in mind that all the physical laws known to modern society in the distant past simply did not yet exist in the full set that is known to humanity, therefore, the very process of formation of the young Universe remains incomprehensible. This mystery is reinforced by the fact that until now, including him, not a single experiment has been carried out in any developed country related to the study of those types of energy that existed at the time of the creation of limitless outer space. The opinions of pundits agree on only one thing: there once existed a point that became a reference point, and that’s where it all began.

Epochal period of formation

1. The era of singularity (Planckian). It is considered to be primary, as the early evolutionary period of the Universe. Matter was concentrated at one point, which had its own temperature and infinite density. Scientists argue that this era is characterized by the dominance of quantum effects belonging to gravitational interaction over physical ones, and not a single physical force that existed in those distant times was identical in strength to gravity, that is, it was not equal to it. The duration of the Planck era is concentrated in the range from 0 to 10-43 seconds. It received this name because only Planck time could fully measure its extent. This time interval is considered to be very unstable, which in turn is closely related to the extreme temperature and limitless density of matter. Following the era of singularity, a period of expansion occurred, and with it cooling, which led to the formation of basic physical forces.

From the period from 10-43 to 10-3 seconds, a new event occurs in boundless space in the form of a collision of transition temperatures, this, in turn, is reflected in their state. There is an opinion that the fundamental forces that now dominate the modern boundless space have now begun to rapidly move away from each other. The consequence of this process was the formation of weak gravitational forces, a state such as electromagnetism, and at the same time weak, along with strong, nuclear interactions.

From 10-36 to 10-32 seconds from the Big Bang, a very low temperature is established in the Universe, equal to 1028 K, this fact in turn causes the separation of electromagnetic forces, which occurs in the process of strong interaction with weak (nuclear).
2. The era of inflation. With the appearance in the boundless expanses of the Universe of the first forces, called by scientists nothing less than fundamental, a new era begins, lasting from 10-32 seconds (according to Planck time) to an absolutely unknown time. A huge number of cosmological models establish that in a given time interval the Universe could be in a state of baryogenesis - a very high temperature affects the chaotic movement of particles in the spatial environment, occurring at an exorbitant speed.

This time is characteristic of the collision and repulsion of antiparticles - collapsing pairs of particles. Researchers are inclined to believe that it was then that matter began to dominate over its antipode, antimatter, which is today a characteristic feature of the Universe, meaning the dominant. By the end of the inflation era, the Universe was formed on the basis of quark-gluon plasma and other elementary particles. It began to gradually cool down, and matter, in turn, began active formation and combination.
3. The era of cooling. Since the decrease in the level of density and temperature in the Universe itself, significant changes began to occur in each particle - their energy began to decrease. A state of this kind ended only when elementary particles came to their modern form, and with them the fundamental forces. The energy of particles began to drop to those parameters that today can only be obtained within laboratory conditions, during numerous experiments and, along with them, experiments. Scientists do not doubt for a second that this time interval existed in the history of the formation of the Universe. They note that immediately after the Big Bang, the energy of the particles gradually decreased, as a result of which they acquired significant sizes. At 10-6 seconds, baryons in the form of protons and neutrons began to form from gluons and quarks. Along with this, dissonance appeared in the form of a predominance of quarks over antiquarks, baryons over antibaryons. Due to the decrease in temperature, the production of proton-neutron pairs and, accordingly, their antipodes began to cease; protons and neutrons began to rapidly disappear, and their antiparticles ceased to exist altogether. A similar process occurred again some time later. However, this time the action affected positrons and electrons.

As a result of the rapid destruction, the particles stopped their chaotic movement, and the energy density related to the Universe began to be intensively filled with photons.

From the moment of expansion of limitless space, the process of launching nucleosynthesis is formed. Thanks to the low temperature and lower energy density, the neutron and proton created the world's first deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen) through their symbiosis, and they also took a direct part in the formation of helium atoms. A huge number of protons, in turn, became the basis for creating a hydrogen nucleus.

After 379,000 years, hydrogen nuclei will combine with electrons, as a result of which atoms of the same hydrogen will appear. At this moment in time, radiation is separated from matter, and from now on it independently fills the entire universal space. This radiation is called cosmic microwave background radiation; it is considered to be the oldest light source of all existing ones.
4. The era of structure. Over the subsequent time interval of a couple of billion years, matter was already able to spread throughout the Universe, and its densest regions began to actively attract each other, becoming denser. As a result of this action, clouds began to appear, consisting of gas, galaxies, stars and other space objects that can still be seen today. This period is known by another name, it is usually called the “Hierarchical Epoch”. This time period is associated with the fact that the Universe managed to acquire a certain form. Matter began to form into various structures of various sizes:
- stars,
- galaxies,
- planets,
- galaxy clusters and superclusters, separated from each other by intergalactic bridges and including several galaxies.

Forecasts for the future

Due to the fact that the Universe has its own point of beginning, scientists periodically create hypotheses that someday there will also be a point that will cease to exist. Physicists and astronomers are also interested in the question of the expansion of the Universe from just one point; they even make predictions that it can expand even more. Or, one day, a reverse process may occur; in boundless space, for unknown reasons, the expansive force may cease to act, as a result of which a reverse process may occur, consisting of compression. In the 1990s, the Big Bang theory was adopted as the main model of the development of the Universe, It was around this time that two main ways for the further existence of boundless space were developed.

1. Big compression. At one moment the Universe can reach its maximum peak in the form of a huge size, and then its destruction will begin. Such a development option will become possible only when the mass density of the Universe is greater than its critical density.

2. In this case, a different picture of actions will occur: the density will equal or even become lower than the critical one. The result is a slowdown in expansion that will never stop. This option was called the thermal death of the Universe. The expansion will continue until star formations no longer actively consume the gas inside nearby galaxies. In this case, the following will happen: the transmission of energy and matter from one cosmic object to another will simply stop. All the stars that can be seen with the naked eye every evening and night in the sky will suffer the same sad fate: they will become nothing more than a white dwarf, a black hole or a neutron star.
Black holes have always been a nuisance not only for cosmologists. The newly formed holes will connect with themselves, forming similar objects of a much larger size. Meanwhile, the average temperature in boundless space can reach 0. The consequence of this situation will be the absolute evaporation of black holes, which will finally begin to emit Hoking radiation into the environment. The final stage in this case will be thermal death. Modern scientists are conducting a huge amount of research concerning not only the existence of dark energy, but also its direct influence on the expansion of outer space. In the course of their research, they, in turn, found that the expansion of the Universe is happening at such a rapid pace that soon humanity will not even know how limitless limitless space actually is. Of course, the minds of pundits cannot even imagine exactly what further path of development the planet may take. They only predict the result, justifying their choice by certain criteria. However, many of the luminaries predict the end of limitless space as heat death, considering it the most likely.

There is also an opinion in the scientific community that all planets, atomic nuclei, atoms, matter and stars will tear apart by themselves in the distant future, which will lead to a big gap. This is another option for the death of the Universe, however, it is formed by expansion.

Other options

Of course, the Big Bang theory is not the only one, as has been stated more than once above. Throughout its existence, humanity has had the right to its own version of the origin of the Universe.

1. In very ancient times, people thought about what kind of world they live and exist in. A religious worldview had not yet been established, but man was already thinking about how the world works, what kind of place he himself occupies in the space around him.
Ancient developed peoples connected their lives closely with religious dogmas. Who, if not a deity, could create a tree, a person, a fire? And when he can do all this, it follows that the whole world was also created by some god.
If you take an overview of the life of one of the most ancient civilizations, which once lived on the territory of Mesopotamia (the modern lands of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey), then you can use the example of the antagonists of good and evil - Ahuramazda and Ahriman to see that these are the gods, according to ancient written sources , are the direct creators of the Universe. Every ancient people associated the formation of outer space with the activity of some deity (most often the supreme one). The great thinkers of antiquity tried to understand the origin of the Universe; they understood that the gods had absolutely nothing to do with it. Cosmology was studied by Aristotle, who tried to prove that the Universe has its own evolution. In the East, everyone knows the name of the doctor Avicenna, but it was not only medicine that weighed on his inquisitive mind. Avicenna was one of the first researchers who tried to refute the divine formation of the Universe using reason and his own logic.
2. Time moves inexorably forward, and with it comes the rapid development of human thought. Researchers of the Middle Ages (those people who were hiding from the Holy Inquisition) and the New Age, going against the authoritarian religious authorities, proved not only what planet Earth is, but also laid down methods for astrological research, and a little later, astrophysical research. They puzzled over questions of cosmogony Many philosophers have their bright heads, among whom the Frenchman Rene Descartes should be highlighted. Descartes attempted, with the help of theory, to understand the origin of celestial bodies, combining all the mathematical, physical and biological knowledge that this talented man possessed. He did not achieve success in his field.
3. Until the beginning of the 20th century, people believed that the Universe had no clear boundaries in either space or time, and in addition to this, it was static and homogeneous. Isaac Newton dared to speak out about the fact that outer space has no limits. The German philosopher Emmanuel Kant listened to his arguments and, based on Newtonian reasoning, put forward his own theory that the Universe has no time and no beginning at all. He attributed all the processes that took place in the Universe to the laws of mechanics.

Kant developed his theory, supported by knowledge from biology. The scientist said that in the vastness of the Universe there can be a huge number of possibilities that give life to a biological product. An equally famous scientist, Charles Darwin, would later become interested in a similar statement.

Kant created his theory based on the experience of astronomers who were practically his contemporaries. It was considered the only true and unshakable one until the moment when the Big Bang theory arose.

4. The author of the famous theory of relativity, Albert Einstein, also did not remain aloof from the problems of the creation of the Universe. In 1917, he presented his project to the public. Einstein also thought that the Universe was stationary; he sought to prove that boundless space should neither contract nor expand. However, his own thoughts went against his main work (the theory of relativity), according to which Einstein’s Universe was simultaneously expanding and contracting.

The scientist hastened to establish that the Universe is static; he justified this by the fact that the cosmic repulsive force affects the balancing of the attraction of stars and thereby stops the movement of celestial bodies in space.

For Einstein, the Universe had finite dimensions, but he did not establish clear boundaries: this becomes possible only in the case of space curvature.
5. Creationism is a separate theory of the creation of the Universe. It, in turn, is based on the fact that humanity and the Universe were founded by a creator. Of course, we are talking about Christian dogma. This theory arose in the 19th century; its supporters argued that the creation of outer space was recorded in the Old Testament. At this time, knowledge from the fields of biology, physics, and astronomy was combined into a single scientific movement. Darwin's theory of evolution occupied a significant place in the life of society. As a result, science went against religion: knowledge against the divine concept of the creation of the world. Creationism has become a kind of protest against innovation. Conservative Christians opposed scientific discoveries.
Creationism was known to the public in the form of two directions:

Young-earth (literalist). God worked to create the world in exactly 6 days, as stated in the Bible. They claim that the world was created about 6,000 years ago.

Old-earth (metaphorical). The 6 days described in the Bible are nothing more than a metaphor that was understandable only to people who lived in ancient times. In fact, such a Christian concept as a “day” may not include a fixed 24 hours, it is concentrated in an indefinite period of time (that is, not having fixed clear boundaries), which in turn can be calculated in millions of years.

Old-earth creationism accepts some scientific ideas and discoveries, its followers agree with the astrophysical age of celestial bodies, but they completely deny the existence of the theory of evolution along with natural selection, arguing that only God can influence the appearance and disappearance of biological species.

Bottom line

The history of the creation of the Universe throughout human existence has undergone changes more than once, which were dictated by religious beliefs or scientific research. Today, there is one version that satisfies scientific minds. The Big Bang theory is the most successful option, describing exactly how the birth of boundless space took place and what eras it lived through. Based on it, scientists predict the further development of the Universe.

However, as previous experience shows, the theory, even if it is very popular in human society, is not always correct. Science does not stand in one place; it is constantly progressing, finding more and more new sources of knowledge.

It is possible that one day another physicist, cosmologist or astronomer will appear in the scientific community who will present his own theory of the creation of the Universe, which, perhaps, will be more correct than the Big Bang theory.

How we love, like this, without thinking about anything, just look at the dark sky, endlessly dotted with stars and dream. Have you ever wondered what it is there above us, what kind of world it is, how it works, whether it has always existed or not, where stars and planets were formed from, why exactly this way and not in another way, these questions can be listed up to infinity. Throughout his entire existence, man has tried and is trying to answer these questions, and hundreds, and perhaps thousands of years will probably pass, and still will not be able to give a complete answer to them.

After thousands of years of observing the stars, man realized that from evening to evening they always remain the same and do not change their relative positions. But nevertheless, this was not always the case, for example, 40 thousand years ago the stars did not look the same as they do now. The Big Dipper looked like the Big Mallet; there was no familiar figure of the belted Orion. This is all explained by the fact that nothing stands still, but is in constant motion. The Moon revolves around, the Earth, in turn, goes through a circular cycle around, the Sun, and with it the whole, revolves around the center of the Galaxy, which, in turn, moves around the center of the Universe. Who knows, maybe our Universe also moves relative to the other, only with larger dimensions.

How the Universe was formed

In 1922, the Russian scientist and astronomer Alexander Alexandrovich Friedman put forward a general theory origin our Universe, which was later confirmed by American astronomer Edwin Hubble. This theory is commonly known as The Big Bang Theory" . At the moment origin of the universe, and this is approximately 12-15 billion years ago, its dimensions were as small as possible, formally it can be assumed that the Universe was pulled into one point and at the same time had an infinitely huge density equal to 10 90 kg/cm³. This means that 1 cubic centimeter of the substance from which the Universe consisted at the moment of the explosion weighed 10 to the 90th power of kilograms. After approximately 10 −35 s. after the onset of the so-called Planck era (when matter was compressed to the maximum possible limit and had a temperature of approximately 10 32 K), an explosion occurred, as a result of which the process of instantaneous exponential expansion of the Universe began, which is still happening. As a result of the explosion, from a superhot cloud of subatomic particles gradually expanding in all directions, atoms, substances, planets, stars, galaxies and, finally, life were gradually formed.

Big Bang- this is the release in all directions of a colossal amount of energy with a gradual drop in temperature, and since the Universe is constantly expanding, it is accordingly continuously cooling. The process of expansion of the Universe itself in cosmology and astronomy has received a common name as “Cosmic inflation”. Soon after the temperature dropped to certain values, the first elementary particles, such as protons and neutrons, appeared in space. When the temperature of space dropped to several thousand degrees, the former elementary particles became electrons and began to combine with protons and helium nuclei. It was at this stage that the formation of atoms began in the Universe, mainly hydrogen and helium.

With every second our Universe increases in volume, this is confirmed by the general theory of the Expansion of the Universe. Moreover, it increases (expands) only because it is not bound by the force of universal gravity. For example, ours cannot expand due to the gravitational forces that any body with mass possesses. Since the Sun is heavier than any planet in our system, due to the forces of gravity, it maintains them at a certain distance, which can only change when the mass of the planet itself changes. If gravitational forces did not exist, then our planet, like any other, would move further and further away from us every minute. And naturally, no life could arise anywhere in the Universe. That is, gravity, as it were, connects all bodies into a single system, into a single object, and therefore expansion can only occur where there are no celestial bodies - in the space between galaxies. The process itself Expansions of the Universe It would be more correct to call it the “scattering” of galaxies. As is known, the distance between galaxies is very large and can reach up to several million, or even hundreds of millions of light years (one light year- this is the distance that a ray of light will travel in one earthly year (365 days), numerically it is equal to 9,460,800,000,000 kilometers, or 9.46 trillion kilometers, or 9.46 thousand billion kilometers). And if we take into account the fact of the Expansion of the Universe, then this figure is constantly growing.

Calculated structure of the Universe according to Millennium simulation. Marked in white

The line distance is about 141 million light years. Indicated in yellow

matter, in purple - dark matter observed only indirectly.

Each yellow dot represents one galaxy.

What will happen next to our Universe, will it always increase? In the early 20s, it was established that the further fate of the Universe depends only on the average density of the substance filling it. If this density is equal to or lower than a certain critical density, then the expansion will continue forever. If the density turns out to be higher than critical, then the reverse phase will occur - compression. The universe will shrink to a point and then happen again Big Bang and the process of development will begin again. It is possible that this cycle (expansion-compression) has already happened to our Universe and will happen in the future. What is this mysterious critical density of the world? Its value is determined only by the modern value of the Hubble constant and is an insignificant value - about 10 -29 g/cm³ or 10 -5 atomic mass units in each cubic centimeter. At this density, 1 gram of the substance is contained in a cube with a side of about 40 thousand kilometers.
Humanity has always been surprised and admired by the size of our world, our Universe, but is it really what man imagined or is it many times larger? Or maybe the Universe is infinite, and if not, then where is its border? Although the volumes of space are colossal, they still have certain limits. According to the observations of Edwin Hubble, the approximate size of the Universe was established, named after him - the Hubble radius, which is about 13 billion light years (12.3 * 10 22 kilometers). On the most modern spaceship, to overcome such a distance a person would need approximately 354 trillion years or 354 thousand billion years.
The most important question still remains unresolved: what existed before the expansion of the Universe began? Is it the same Universe as ours, only not expanding, but contracting? Or a world completely unfamiliar to us with completely different properties of space and time. Perhaps it was a world that obeyed completely different laws of nature unknown to us. These questions are so complex that they go beyond human understanding.

Microscopic particles that human vision can only be seen with a microscope, as well as huge planets and star clusters, amaze people. Since ancient times, our ancestors have tried to comprehend the principles of the formation of the cosmos, but even in the modern world there is still no exact answer to the question “how the Universe was formed.” Perhaps the human mind is not able to find a solution to such a global problem?

Scientists from different eras from all corners of the Earth tried to comprehend this secret. All theoretical explanations are based on assumptions and calculations. Numerous hypotheses put forward by scientists are designed to create an idea of ​​the Universe and explain the emergence of its large-scale structure, chemical elements and describe the chronology of origin.

String theory

To some extent, it refutes the Big Bang as the initial moment of the emergence of the elements of outer space. According to the Universe, it has always existed. The hypothesis describes the interaction and structure of matter, where there is a certain set of particles that are divided into quarks, bosons and leptons. In simple terms, these elements are the basis of the universe, since their size is so small that division into other components has become impossible.

The hallmark of the theory of how the Universe formed is that the aforementioned particles are ultramicroscopic strings that constantly vibrate. Individually they have no material form, being energy that collectively creates all the physical elements of the cosmos. An example in this situation would be fire: looking at it, it appears to be matter, but it is intangible.

Big Bang - the first scientific hypothesis

The author of this assumption was astronomer Edwin Hubble, who in 1929 noticed that galaxies were gradually moving away from each other. The theory states that the current large Universe arose from a particle that was microscopic in size. The future elements of the universe were in a singular state in which it was impossible to obtain data on pressure, temperature or density. The laws of physics under such conditions do not affect energy and matter.

The cause of the Big Bang is said to be instability that arose inside the particle. Peculiar fragments, spreading in space, formed a nebula. Over time, these tiny elements formed atoms, from which the galaxies, stars and planets of the Universe arose as we know them today.

Space inflation

This theory of the birth of the Universe states that the modern world was initially placed at an infinitesimal point in a state of singularity, which began to expand at incredible speed. After a very short period of time, its increase already exceeded the speed of light. This process is called “inflation”.

The main goal of the hypothesis is to explain not how the Universe was formed, but the reasons for its expansion and the concept of cosmic singularity. As a result of working on this theory, it became clear that only calculations and results based on theoretical methods are applicable to solve this problem.

Creationism

This theory dominated for a long time until the end of the 19th century. According to creationism, the organic world, humanity, the Earth and the greater Universe as a whole were created by God. The hypothesis originated among scientists who did not refute Christianity as an explanation of the history of the universe.

Creationism is the main opponent of evolution. All nature, created by God in six days, which we see every day, was originally like this and remains unchanged to this day. That is, self-development as such did not exist.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the accumulation of knowledge in the field of physics, astronomy, mathematics and biology began to accelerate. With the help of new information, scientists are making repeated attempts to explain how the Universe was formed, thereby relegating creationism to the background. In the modern world, this theory has taken the form of a philosophical movement consisting of religion as a basis, as well as myths, facts and even scientific knowledge.

Stephen Hawking's Anthropic Principle

His hypothesis as a whole can be described in a few words: there are no random events. Our Earth today has more than 40 characteristics, without which life on the planet would not exist.

The American astrophysicist H. Ross assessed the probability of random events. As a result, the scientist received the number 10 with a power of -53 (if the last number is less than 40, randomness is considered impossible).

The observable Universe contains a trillion galaxies and each contains approximately 100 billion stars. Based on this, the number of planets in the Universe is 10 to the twentieth power, which is 33 orders of magnitude less than in the previous calculation. Consequently, in all of space there are no such unique places with conditions as on Earth that would allow the spontaneous emergence of life.

Now there are a huge number of assumptions about the possible origin of the Universe. But none of them can give a clear answer to the main question of how it appeared.

The paradoxical fact remains that after studying and analyzing one of the theories and finding a sufficient number of convincing judgments in it, delving into another theory also provides a considerable number of arguments.

That is why the search for a definite answer to this question lasts many years.

At the moment there are 3 main theories of the origin of the Universe:

• theological;
• The Big Bang Theory";
• scientific and philosophical theory.

Theological approach

If we consider one of the oldest theories of the origin of the Universe, described in the Bible, then the origin of the world dates back to 5508 BC.

The theological point of view about the origin of the world has been known for a long time, but its supporters are mainly deeply religious people and the clergy.

This theory is most often criticized by scientists who take a completely different view of the origin of the world and its structure.

If we turn to the explanatory dictionary, we will read there that the Universe is a worldview system that includes cosmic infinity and all the bodies located in it.

A more alternative definition of the concept “Universe” is “a clump of stellar bodies and galaxies.”

Big Bang - the beginning of the Universe

From a scientific point of view, the most popular theory explaining the origin of the Universe is the so-called “Big Bang” theory.

This version says that about 20 billion years ago the Universe looked like a small grain of sand. But despite the tiny dimensions of this substance, its density was more than 1100 g/cm3. Naturally, at that time this substance did not include stars, planets or galaxies. It represented only a certain potential for the creation of many celestial bodies.

The high density caused an explosion that could divide a grain of sand into millions of pieces, from which the Universe was formed.

There is another theory of the origin of the Universe. Its essence echoes the Big Bang theory. The only exception is the fact that in the second theory the Universe supposedly arose not from matter, but from vacuum. In other words, the world came into existence as a result of an explosion in a vacuum.

The word “vacuum” is translated from Latin as “emptiness,” but emptiness is usually understood not as the generally accepted meaning of this word, but as a certain state in which all things exist. Vacuum tends to change its structure the same way water does, turning into a solid or gas. In the process of one of these transitions from one state to another, an explosion occurred that gave birth to the Universe.

The development of the Big Bang theory made it possible to answer many important questions, but at the same time it raised even more new ones for scientists. For example, what led to the instability of the singularity point and what state did the particle have before the big bang? One of the main mysteries remains the origin and nature of space and time.

Scientific and philosophical theory

In addition to theological and scientific hypotheses that explain the origin of the Universe, there is also a scientific and philosophical approach to this issue.

Scientific and philosophical theory considers the creation of the Universe by a certain intelligent Origin. This approach implies the impermanent existence of the world, since there is a fixed point of beginning. The theory also describes the constant growth and development of the Universe. Such conclusions were made by scientists studying the composition and radiance of stellar bodies.

“Studies of the Milky Way, carried out in the 30s of the twentieth century, established that stellar radiance is shifted towards the red region of the spectrum and the more distant the star is from the Earth, the more pronounced it is. It was this fact that became the basis for scientists’ conclusions about the constant growth and expansion of the Universe.”

The universe, which scientists are constantly photographing, is constantly changing.

Another fact confirming the expansion of the Universe is a phenomenon called the “death” of a star.

The chemical composition of the star's body consists of hydrogen, which takes part in many reactions and turns into heavier elements. After most of the hydrogen reacts, the “death” of the star occurs. Some theories claim that the planets are a result of this phenomenon.

These studies confirmed another assumption: hydrogen decay is a natural and irreversible process, and the Universe is moving towards its end.

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In this article we will look at several theories that try to answer the question of how the Universe came into being. Let’s start with the most modern one, which was developed just a few years ago and was called the “theory of inflation”, and then we will consider theories that were popular before and which have not lost their followers to this day.

How the Universe came into being: a modern view

Today it is generally accepted that at the very beginning of everything there was a period that scientists called “inflation.” Let's figure out what the essence of the theory of inflation, which was developed at the very end of the last 20th century, is. In this scenario, the Universe began to be created from a vacuum state that was devoid of any radiation or matter. It is assumed that some hypothetical field (which scientists called inflaton) began to fill all space without exception and at any time could take on completely different values ​​in absolutely any spatial areas. In this case, nothing happened until a uniform configuration of an inflaton field with a size of 10 -33 cm began to randomly appear. Immediately after this, this region of space began to increase incredibly quickly, and the energy of the inflaton field began to tend to a minimum.

How the Big Bang Happened

At the end of the so-called inflationary period, our Universe reached a size of about 1 cm in diameter, and a minimum of potential energy remained in the inflaton field itself. And at that very moment, the colossal kinetic energy accumulated in this small Universe began to transform into scattering elementary particles, as a result of which the well-known Big Bang occurred. Inflation, as well as the Big Bang that followed it, is often compared to the situation when a snowball begins to roll down a mountain. Initially, it is small, but gradually new layers of snow stick to it, it begins to increase in size, and then simply falls into the abyss, but upon impact it splits into many pieces that scatter in all directions. It must be said that the described process may not be an isolated one, and if it is repeated, other universes will arise; their properties may well differ from ours. Such a difference is quite acceptable, because each “snowball”, in fact, has its own trajectory, as well as its own size. In addition, he falls into various places of the abyss.

Where did the Universe come from: other theories

Let us note that it is now customary to talk about a collection of different universes, one of which we can observe from the inside. It is quite possible that other universes are somewhat less fortunate (or more, depending on how you look at it) than ours, and there is no life there, and, accordingly, no observers either. And of course, the inflationary theory of how the Universe was formed is far from the only one even among scientists. Its critics cannot come to terms with the emergence of “something” from virtually “nothing.” Alternative options are the quantum model of the Universe and the oscillation model of the Universe. The latter assumes that our Universe exists forever, while either contracting or expanding at different periods of time, and each cycle is accompanied by a giant explosion. As for the quantum model of the creation of the Universe, the followers of this theory believe that elementary particles may well appear and disappear in a vacuum, completely spontaneously, which is the main reason not only for the emergence of the Universe, but also matter in general. The vacuum itself is neutral, so it has no charge, no mass, or any other characteristics. However, it is likely that the vacuum contains a certain matrix, a kind of potential, in accordance with which both matter and radiation are created.

Religion's point of view

Of course, it is quite possible to choose the traditional option, namely, to believe that the World was created by God. Moreover, no matter how strange it may seem, to some scientists this theory also seems quite logical and has a right to exist, because how can there be a creation without a Creator? Another thing is what each of us understands by God.

There is still no exact answer to the question of how the Universe began, and, frankly speaking, it is unlikely that there will be one. After all, just as atoms cannot comprehend the structure they create, so a part of the Universe cannot stand above the latter in order to embrace and cognize it. Therefore, you can accept the theory that is closer to you personally.