No Big Bang? Quantum equation predicts universe has no beginning

by Lisa Zyga

(Phys.org) —The universe may have existed
forever, according to a new model that applies quantum correction terms
to complement Einstein's theory of general relativity. The model may
also account for dark matter and dark energy, resolving multiple
problems at once.

The widely accepted age of the universe, as estimated by general relativity,
is 13.8 billion years. In the beginning, everything in existence is
thought to have occupied a single infinitely dense point, or singularity. Only after this point began to expand in a "Big Bang" did the universe officially begin.

Although the Big Bang singularity arises directly and unavoidably
from the mathematics of general relativity, some scientists see it as
problematic because the math can explain only what happened immediately
after—not at or before—the singularity.

"The Big Bang singularity is the most serious problem of general
relativity because the laws of physics appear to break down there,"
Ahmed Farag Ali at Benha University and the Zewail City of Science and
Technology, both in Egypt, told Phys.org.

This is an artist's concept of the metric expansion of space,
where space (including hypothetical non-observable portions of the
universe) is represented at each time by the circular sections. Note on
the left the dramatic expansion (not to scale) occurring in the
inflationary epoch, and at the center the expansion acceleration. The
scheme is decorated with WMAP images on the left and with the
representation of stars at the appropriate level of development. Credit:
NASA