How Big Bang Cosmology Might Die
The Cosmological Constant Problem:
Is this the end of big bang cosmology?
by Jerry Bergman, PhD
Bluffing About the Big Bang
Big Bang cosmology is widely taught as the explanation for the origin of the universe. For example, in the introduction to an astronomy book for young readers published ten years ago in 2014, the claim was made that readers can “learn about the Big Bang that started it all, and the Big Crunch that may end it all.”[1] After noting that the “Universe is everything that exists, from the tiniest bit of an atom to entire galaxies”[2], under the heading ‘The Big Bang’, the author explains that
One moment there was nothing, the next, there was a tiny, unbelievably hot dense ball, containing all the matter in the universe today. Then a moment later, the universe existed, blasting itself into life with the biggest explosion of all time—the Big Bang. No one knows quite why it all started, but scientists think it all began with a small, incredibly hot ball. In the first split second, this [ball] grew to the size of a football, and then cooled down rapidly.[3]
The authors added: “Gravity behaved very strangely, instead of pulling things together, it blew them apart, and the universe expanded at terrific speed. In a split second, it grew bigger than a galaxy.[4] As the universe expanded, the author explained,
it cooled, and tiny particles of energy and matter began to appear. These particles formed a dense, immensely thick soup. The weird soup making up the early universe was five trillion times thicker than water. After about 3 minutes, gravity began to behave as it does now, drawing things together. Particles joined to make atoms, atoms joined to make gases, such as hydrogen and helium. Gases clumped into clouds. After several hundred million years, these clouds began to form stars and galaxies. These galaxies merged into clusters and superclusters and much later the Sun and solar system were formed.”[5]
Not So Fast
These paragraphs do not provide a hint about the major doubts that leading cosmologists have about the story related above. As I have previously documented, major problems exist in modern cosmology, specifically Big Bang cosmology.[6] “As troubling as the Hubble tension and the smoothness problems are, they’re not the biggest complications facing our cosmological models. The mother of all head-scratchers is the cosmological constant problem.”[7]
A cosmological constant is a value that is added to make equations fit reality as determined by physical measurements. An example is the gravitational constant, which is 6.67430(15)×10−11 denoted by the capital letter G in the formula F = G x (m1m2/r2). When the calculations are completed, the formula correctly produces the value of force (F) no matter what the value of the two masses and the distance between them.
Many cosmological constants exist. The cosmological constant problem in this case refers to the substantial disagreement between the observed values of vacuum energy density (the small value of the cosmological constant) and the much larger value predicted by quantum field theory.
The problem is that the calculated energy in a vacuum that contributes to the cosmological constant is calculated to be between 50 and as much as 120 orders of magnitude greater than what is actually observed.[8] To solve the problem, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Professor Steven Weinberg proposed what Chown calls “a desperate explanation.” Specifically, he proposed that the value of the cosmological constant is different in different parts of the Universe. In most regions, the cosmological constant is so large that “it blasts matter apart, preventing it from forming galaxies and stars. We find ourselves in a region where the cosmological constant is small enough to permit the existence of stars because”[9] it must be smaller for the reason that we have galaxies and stars in our part of the universe. Therefore, it must be different in our corner of the universe.[10] This is like claiming that the speed of light in a vacuum is different in different parts of the universe. ‘In some areas’ such an explanation might say, ‘it is 186,282 miles per second and in other areas it is 896,367 miles per second’. This would clearly be rejected as a case of special pleading.
The cosmologists’ response to the cosmological constants problem is
Since few people are happy with Weinberg’s solution, the cosmological problem represents the biggest discrepancy between a prediction and an observation in the history of physics. The previous biggest concern was how an electron can orbit in an atom before spiraling into its nucleus. Theory predicted that atoms should collapse in a split-second, yet atoms are known to have persisted for the age of the Universe…. The discrepancy was resolved in the 1920s by a revolutionary new theory: quantum theory.[11]
Chown concludes that
resolving the cosmological constant problem will require a revolution in physics. Specifically, a theory that unites quantum theory (the theory of the very small) with Einstein’s theory of gravity (the theory of the very big). Such a theory, dubbed quantum gravity, has so far proved elusive. As for whether cosmology really is in crisis, the jury is still out. Theorists like Prof. Joseph Silk remain skeptical. Others …. dare to hope for new physics. “It may be that within the next couple of years, we’ll have ruled out the Standard Model of Cosmology and learned something new, either about the nature of matter/energy in the Universe and/or the forces acting on it.” [12]
Conclusions
The impression given in many astronomy books, such as the book quoted above, The Awesome Book of the Universe, is that Big Bang cosmology is proven science and all we have to do is to work out some minor unimportant details. This is not at all the case, as was made clear from the quotes of the leading cosmologists referenced above. Modern Big Bang cosmology, in contrast to claims such as Stephen Hawking in his book Brief Answers to the Big Questions, admits that the orthodox view of the Big Bang is in big trouble. Hawking, although committed to Big Bang cosmology, advocated a very different mechanism, called ‘string theory’, a topic that would require another article.[13]
References
[1] Paiva, J., The Awesome Book of the Universe. Flowerpot Press, Franklin, TN, p. 3, 2014.
[2] Paiva, 2014, p. 5.
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[3] Paiva, 2014, p. 6.
[4] Paiva, 2014, p. 7.
[5] Paiva, 2014, p. 7.
[6] Bergman, J., “Big holes exist in modern cosmology: Leading cosmologists admit major problems with orthodox cosmology.” Cosmic Tension: Modern Cosmology Has Big Holes. Leading cosmologists admit major problems with orthodox cosmology. https://crev.info/2024/07/hubble-tension/. 2024.
[7] Chown, M. “The cosmological constant problem.” BBC Science Focus Magazine, pp. 62-67, 14 May 2024.
[8] Adler, R., et al., “Vacuum catastrophe: An elementary exposition of the cosmological constant problem.” American Journal of Physics 63(7):620–626, 1995.
[9] Chown, 2024. P. 66
[10] Chown, 2024, pp. 66-67.
[11] Chown, 2024, p. 67. Emphasis added in quotes.
[12] Chown, 2024, p. 67.
[13] Hawking, S. Brief Answers to the Big Questions. Bantam Books, New York, NY, 2018.
Dr. Jerry Bergman has taught biology, genetics, chemistry, biochemistry, anthropology, geology, and microbiology for over 40 years at several colleges and universities including Bowling Green State University, Medical College of Ohio where he was a research associate in experimental pathology, and The University of Toledo. He is a graduate of the Medical College of Ohio, Wayne State University in Detroit, the University of Toledo, and Bowling Green State University. He has over 1,900 publications in 14 languages and 40 books and monographs. His books and textbooks that include chapters that he authored are in over 1,800 college libraries in 27 countries. So far over 80,000 copies of the 60 books and monographs that he has authored or co-authored are in print. For more articles by Dr Bergman, see his Author Profile.