Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Editors' preface
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I An overview of the contributions of John Archibald Wheeler
- Part II An historian's tribute to John Archibald Wheeler and scientific speculation through the ages
- Part III Quantum reality: theory
- Part IV Quantum reality: experiment
- Part V Big questions in cosmology
- 18 Cosmic inflation and the arrow of time
- 19 Cosmology and immutability
- 20 Inflation, quantum cosmology, and the anthropic principle
- 21 Parallel universes
- 22 Quantum theories of gravity: results and prospects
- 23 A genuinely evolving universe
- 24 Planck-scale models of the universe
- 25 Implications of additional spatial dimensions for questions in cosmology
- Part VI Emergence, life, and related topics
- Appendix A Science and Ultimate Reality Program Committees
- Appendix B Young Researchers Competition in honor of John Archibald Wheeler for physics graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and young faculty
- Index
23 - A genuinely evolving universe
from Part V - Big questions in cosmology
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 March 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Editors' preface
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I An overview of the contributions of John Archibald Wheeler
- Part II An historian's tribute to John Archibald Wheeler and scientific speculation through the ages
- Part III Quantum reality: theory
- Part IV Quantum reality: experiment
- Part V Big questions in cosmology
- 18 Cosmic inflation and the arrow of time
- 19 Cosmology and immutability
- 20 Inflation, quantum cosmology, and the anthropic principle
- 21 Parallel universes
- 22 Quantum theories of gravity: results and prospects
- 23 A genuinely evolving universe
- 24 Planck-scale models of the universe
- 25 Implications of additional spatial dimensions for questions in cosmology
- Part VI Emergence, life, and related topics
- Appendix A Science and Ultimate Reality Program Committees
- Appendix B Young Researchers Competition in honor of John Archibald Wheeler for physics graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and young faculty
- Index
Summary
Warm up
A number of surprising observations made at the threshold of the twenty-first century have left cosmologists confused and other physicists in doubt over the reliability of cosmology. For instance the cosmological expansion appears to be accelerating. This is contrary to common sense, as it implies that on large scales gravity is repulsive. Another upheaval resulted from the high redshift mapping of the fine structure constant, when evidence was found for a time dependence of this supposed constant of Nature. Yet another puzzle was the observation of rare very high energy cosmic rays. Standard kinematic calculations, based on special relativity, predict a cut-off well below the observed energies, so this may perhaps represent the first experimental mishap of special relativity.
These three surprises are not alone and prompt several questions. Is the universe trying to tell us something radical about the foundations of physics? Or do astronomers merely wish to displease the conservative physicists? It could well be that the strange observations emerging from the new cosmology are correct, and that they provide a unique window into dramatically novel physics. Is the universe trying to give us a physics lesson?
It would be surprising if we already knew everything there is to know about physics. Indeed we expect that currently known physics must break down in the very early universe, or at very high energies. However, no one knows to what extent our current concepts may be inadequate in these extreme situations – the damage caused could be unimaginable.
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- Science and Ultimate RealityQuantum Theory, Cosmology, and Complexity, pp. 528 - 549Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004
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