Melbourne: Australian researchers say that the standing model for the origins of the universe, the big bang, needs to be rewritten.
A study being published in a US physics journal suggests it may be possible to view “cracks” in the universe that would support the theory of “quantum graphity”, considered to be the holy grail of physics.
The team of researchers from the University of Melbourne and RMIT say that instead of thinking of the start of the universe as being a big bang, we should imagine it as a cooling of water into ice.
“Think of the early universe as being like a liquid. Then as the universe cools, it `crystalises’,” News.com.au quoted Melbourne University theoretical physics researcher James Quach as saying.
“The reason we use the water analogy is water is without form.
“In the beginning there wasn’t even space, space did not exist because there was no form,” he explained.
Their research is based theories that suggest space is made of indivisible building blocks, like atoms, that can be thought of as similar to pixels that make up images on a computer screen.
“The biggest problem with the big bang model is the bang itself,” Quach said.
“At the bang, physics breaks down. The model cannot make any predictions at what occurs at the big bang. You can’t use any of the mathematics (or) any of the theories,” he stated.
Quach and his fellow researchers theorise that if quantum graphity “cracks” do exist, they will bend or reflect light, which, if observed through a telescope would support their predictions.
ANI
