A Beginning-less Universe?
I found this article to be very intriguing as well as interesting. In Buddhism, it is said there is no beginning but there is an end to our individual existences once we reach enlightenment. Also time and our rebirth has no beginning whatsoever but upon the destruction of the non-existent ‘I’ then our ego based existence of suffering individually will end. This is so similar to what this article is saying.
Tsem Rinpoche
No Big Bang? Quantum Equation Predicts Universe Has No Beginning
February 9, 2015 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.
Ali and coauthor Saurya Das at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada, have shown in a paper published in Physics Letters B that the Big Bang singularity can be resolved by their new model in which the universe has no beginning and no end.
Old ideas revisited
The physicists emphasize that their quantum correction terms are not applied ad hoc in an attempt to specifically eliminate the Big Bang singularity. Their work is based on ideas by the theoretical physicist David Bohm, who is also known for his contributions to the philosophy of physics. Starting in the 1950s, Bohm explored replacing classical geodesics (the shortest path between two points on a curved surface) with quantum trajectories.
In their paper, Ali and Das applied these Bohmian trajectories to an equation developed in the 1950s by physicist Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri at Presidency University in Kolkata, India. Raychaudhuri was also Das’s teacher when he was an undergraduate student of that institution in the ’90s.
Using the quantum-corrected Raychaudhuri equation, Ali and Das derived quantum-corrected Friedmann equations, which describe the expansion and evolution of universe (including the Big Bang) within the context of general relativity. Although it’s not a true theory of quantum gravity, the model does contain elements from both quantum theory and general relativity. Ali and Das also expect their results to hold even if and when a full theory of quantum gravity is formulated.
No singularities nor dark stuff
In addition to not predicting a Big Bang singularity, the new model does not predict a “big crunch” singularity, either. In general relativity, one possible fate of the universe is that it starts to shrink until it collapses in on itself in a big crunch and becomes an infinitely dense point once again.
Ali and Das explain in their paper that their model avoids singularities because of a key difference between classical geodesics and Bohmian trajectories. Classical geodesics eventually cross each other, and the points at which they converge are singularities. In contrast, Bohmian trajectories never cross each other, so singularities do not appear in the equations.
In cosmological terms, the scientists explain that the quantum corrections can be thought of as a cosmological constant term (without the need for dark energy) and a radiation term. These terms keep the universe at a finite size, and therefore give it an infinite age. The terms also make predictions that agree closely with current observations of the cosmological constant and density of the universe.
New gravity particle
In physical terms, the model describes the universe as being filled with a quantum fluid. The scientists propose that this fluid might be composed of gravitons—hypothetical massless particles that mediate the force of gravity. If they exist, gravitons are thought to play a key role in a theory of quantum gravity.
In a related paper, Das and another collaborator, Rajat Bhaduri of McMaster University, Canada, have lent further credence to this model. They show that gravitons can form a Bose-Einstein condensate (named after Einstein and another Indian physicist, Satyendranath Bose) at temperatures that were present in the universe at all epochs.
Motivated by the model’s potential to resolve the Big Bang singularity and account for dark matter and dark energy, the physicists plan to analyze their model more rigorously in the future. Their future work includes redoing their study while taking into account small inhomogeneous and anisotropic perturbations, but they do not expect small perturbations to significantly affect the results.
“It is satisfying to note that such straightforward corrections can potentially resolve so many issues at once,” Das said.
Source: http://phys.org/news/2015-02-big-quantum-equation-universe.html
For more interesting information:
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- Psychic Power & Sabine Thing
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- Into The Universe With Stephen Hawking – Time Travel
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Dear Rinpoche,
Although I cannot truly appreciate what has been written here, especially the Physic terms but I am very happy to read such article which coincides what Buddha has taught 2500 years ago. Hopefully I can appreciate more of theye in future.
Thank you Rinpoche
I think Buddha and the bodhisattvas work so very hard to liberate sentient beings, because they already know Samsara is beginning-less and endless.
Imagine one is born into suffering states like any of the 3 lower realms over and over again, if we truly had memory of past lives, we will not commit so much unwholesome karma, that part I am sure.
WOW….NO BIG BANG!!
I find the concept of no big bang not easy to believe. There are many other problems this new approach needs to work on; like the how the distribution of the galaxies as we know it today was formed. The Big Bang can explain this very well using isothermal vs adiabatic models. Also, if the universe has no beginning then entropy will ensure that the universe will die a cold death in the future. This is hardly meaningful as it means no more lives. This, versus the big crunch, I chose the big crunch because we can then have a new big bang…..!
Anyway, in Buddhism we talk of “beginningless”; I take that to be that the big bang is only the start of this universe; meaning there are universes before this one…..in that way infinite number of universes in the past and also the future. Also there are parallel universes at present.
Also, in the beginning of this post, Rinpoche said that when we reach enlightenment our universe will end because we destroyed the concept of ‘I”. I think we can also say that time itself is conceptual and is projected by the “I”. Buddhas can see past, present and future at the same time. Wouldn’t that mean “beginningless” and infinite??
One of the reasons why I like Tsem Rinpoche’s blog is because it has many different topics which will suit different people.
Although I don’t quite understand the general relativity and quantum physics, I have read the “A Brief History of Time” by Stephen Hawking, and what he explained is very interesting. Right now, almost all physicians are asking the same questions: Is there a big bang? What happened before the big bang? This proposed model is not new, but sure it is very interesting seeing it being “revived”.
What is interesting is, many of the teachings of Buddha, has over time, being proven correct from scientific experiments or model. For example, Buddha taught that there are six realms. With the improvements in science, more beings of different realms are being detected. I truly believe that in due time, science is able to “proof” other phenomenon as taught in Buddha’s teachings, such as there are different existence; reincarnation (there are somewhat proofs); etc.
I think one must not forget that Buddha is only teaching the truth He discovered. Many of the phenomenons already exists, and He only “discover” them. At the same time, science has only existed thousands if not hundreds of years. It is only correct to say there are many things science cannot proof yet. I used to “take refuge” in science, saying that if science cannot proof it, then it is not real. But after studying Buddhism, I tend to be more open about phenomenons.
I thank Rinpoche for posting this “technical” article with the intention (I think) of getting me to be more open when it comes to spirituality.
It is astonishing and yet scary to know that science is saying the same things that the Buddha has said thousands of years ago.
I like the idea of massless particles though it involves a form in the picture as massless is a body in different shapes. A form regardless of its shape still requires many particles to come together so to form it. Therefore, a form cannot be independent and exist on its own.
Another point I find interesting is Ali and Das’s avoidance in using the singularities. This might contradict with the concept of a particle as it has the quality of being singular to begin with. The concept of geodesic and trajectory although differs from the way there are presented, ie the difference between a line and a path, both still requires one thing to function. Therefore, singularity still plays a role there.
I must admit Big Bang and the theory of general relativity is for sure an interesting field yet not easy to grasp.
On the other hand, what is easier for me is what Rinpoche writes in his introduction to the article. Once we have destroyed the non-existent “I”, the egobased suffering of “me” will end. We will reach enlightenment.
Thank You Rinpoche
P. Antoinette
This is a fascinating article. essentially what is being found is that there is no such thing as a ‘beginning’ or and ‘end’ because to assume such would mean that there is singularity in time that we can identify and grasp as a ‘beginning’ or and ‘end. It assumes the such terms have a certain tangibility to them which is not the case.
Because if that is, then time is a series of identifiable and graspable points and yet there is no separation between ‘past’, ‘present’ and ‘future’ and these labels which are created for convenience do not in fact reflect the reality of ‘time’.
‘Time’ as we know is not static and stationary and if it is not stationary it is not graspable and if it not graspable it cannot exist on its own and hence there is no reality known as a ‘beginning’ or indeed and ‘end’.
What is mist amazing is how these correct comprehension of ‘time’ that is being understood now was already firmly realised by the Buddha and the great sages like Nagajurna over a thousand years ago.
I love these kinda scientific discoveries because we are getting closer and closer towards discovering how accurate the Buddha was in defining our existence. The Buddha may not have used the scientific terms but the meaning of his discourses mirror the latest understanding of psychology and reality.
This goes to show that what the Buddha taught was based on his observation of reality and some brilliant theory that he made up or something he based it on the half-baked theories of others. The Buddha is himself a revolutionary because many aspects of his doctrine that although utilizes common terminology used during its time but the Buddha is not afraid to redefine them to fit his observation of reality. Whats incredibly that the Buddha didn’t invent anything new but he was not afraid to clarify and redefine these terms due to his own observation and realization of it.
The big bang is really interesting where it shows that it is able to be controlled on it’s own, yet they will be able to blow up that destroys everything. It actually shows how that what is happening in the universe is limitless and we will never know the full “blow” of how the universe is. Scientists spent many years to find out all these information, yet Buddha have said that everything is empty. Which is exactly the true like what is being found out.
With that, it can be seen that it is true that Buddha is all knowing and has seen this 2500 years ago even before our narrow minds of man are able to find out information like that.
As science progresses, more and more evidence would be find to match what Buddha has said some 2,600 years ago. Science needs to develop instruments to observe the universe, Buddha trained his mind to a state where He could perceive everything in the universe long, long time ago, so it behooves us to follow Buddha’s path, so that we don’t have to waste time reinventing the wheel like what science did.
Ever since young, I have never been attracted to physics and science, but big bang has always been a rather interesting subject to discuss about and think of. What truly amazes me is that the universe alone is such a powerful and massive existence. It is powerful enough to contain itself but at the same time, it also has the capability of destroying everything, it reminds me of emptiness. Everything is impermanent, we may be the richest person on earth but when the time comes, we still have to leave our temporal human body and reincarnate as another being.
I sometimes wonder what it’d be like when big bang really happens, everything is ‘destroyed’ and where new life begins.
We measure our existence in units of time and how we measure time is partially in relations to the point at which we think the universe was created – at the point of the Big Bang. Humans are millions of years old, the earth is billions of years old, etc.
So I never fully believed that the universe started at one definite point in time because that would be saying nothing existed before that definite point, and therefore it would indirectly deny the notion that time is a continuum.
To build my argument, I need to establish how time is a continuum. We KNOW that time is a continuum because one moment flows into the next, and there is no definite point in time that you can pin down. Why? Because as soon as you’ve pinned down a moment, you’re already in the next one! Hence in that way, we can conclude time is a continuum.
Next, I need to establish that something cannot come from nothing. In order for something to come into existence, there has to be a cause. This means if our galaxy came into existence, there had to be Something Beforehand, that was catalysed into the existence and result of our galaxy.
And in that Something Beforehand, there was a unit and measurement of time – that Something existed for however long, before the conditions came together for the Big Bang.
Hence if time exists and it is a continuum, it would not be logical to view the Big Bang singularity as the exact moment of our creation because Something existed in that space before the galaxy as we know it came into existence.
Therefore it would be more accurate to say the Big Bang was just another moment of transition or transformation from one ever-changing condition / state of existence to the next, borne as a function and result of the continuum of time.
Whenever I read such scientific discovery, it increases my faith one notch higher as I say Hey Buddha said that like 2,500 years ago! The scriptures have mentioned there is no beginning and there is no end. And we look at the whole big universe we are all just a dot so what is the big fuss about when things don’t go our way?
The universe is limitless and limitless is our mind, so how did we end up getting trap thinking we only live once I sometimes wonder. If the universe has no beginning and has no end then we will have no beginning and have no end too when we reach enlightenment as become the universe?
With that ability perhaps this is why the Buddhas can emanate limitlessly and simultaneously in different directions. This reminds me of the movie I watched call ‘Lucy’ and she end up become formless and she is nowhere but everywhere. I believe this touch on the subject of emptiness and true nature of reality which there is no inherently existing ‘I’ which created through our deluded projections.
Beautiful article …To conclude science and the two religions of Buddhism and Hinduism represent contrasting understandings of the universe. Buddhism and Hinduism share some of the same beliefs.
Since young, I’ve known about the theories of the Big Bang and the Big Crunch as they were taught in school. But i’ve always wondered, from a scientific standpoint, what came before and what will come afterwards. I’d never found a scientific answer, as that was the point when theoretical physics seemed to encounter real problems.
But the matter of fact is that this has actually been talked about in Ancient Indian texts, both Hindu and Buddhist. In these belief systems there is no beginning and no end, until you are able to transcend this existence by reaching higher states of being. Within this beginning-less and endless existence, physical reality is formed, exists, and is destroyed. Then there is period of nothingness, after which the cycle starts all over again.
Why is this important in the grand scheme of things? It has a deep significance in our spiritual practice. The first is to teach us humility because we realise how small our problems and issues are in relation to the rest of existence. The other is to motivate us to overcome this very cyclic and un-ending existence. Some people might find this somewhat depressing, but in order to overcome suffering we must first realise that we are in fact suffering. It is only then that we strive to improve ourselves for the better.
Whatever the case may be, either the various theories explored within scientific inquiry or religious cosmological thought, both need to be taken on faith by an ordinary individual. The reason is that most people do not have the rigorous education to understand theoretical physics nor the high level spiritual attainment to see existence in its entirety. Both include an element of faith by the ordinary person like myself.
Looking at the diagram depicting the estimated age of the universe to be 13.8billion years ago is simply humbling. It is also reminds me of how limited we are…if we relate reality to solid matters.
Having been reading up more about meditation, meditators often advise readers to reconnect with our nature to simply experience without definition, understanding or logic. To experience as is where the mind is completely present and still.
Reading this article prompts me to think that timelessness is THE state of reality because time, or at least the one that we refer to when wanting to know duration and the hour of the day, is actually man made. Even this time “13.8 billion years ago” is real or usable because it provides a sense of relativity to what we are familiar with. If I asked myself, what exactly is 13.8billion years…besides beings a compilation of digits that scroll out before my eyes as I type, do they have a sense to me? In honesty: They don’t, I do not know what 13.8 billion truly is.
This statement is not made with disrespect to the sincere Ali and Das who are passionately trying to share knowledge of a miracle with all of us. That is to me science: a system to quantify and formulate the vast miraculous phenomena in life so that phenomena translates into knowledge that can be passed down from one generation to the next.
What is ultimately the objective of knowledge? So that we actually apply it and make a beneficial impact in the world.
The universe is a miracle. Life is a magical gift. Hope is the illogical fuel that keeps us going even in the darkest, bleakest moment. Science and men/women of science have still much to formulate and I thank them sincerely for their devotion. However, in the meantime, step back, breath, love, give and develop gratitude to Nature and life. Live in a way you can be proud. Go to bed without weight on your shoulder. For us, simple folks who is still limited by what we have been told is knowledge, this is what we can do for now in contribution.
Thank you Rinpoche for this humbling post!
Dear Rinpoche
Thank you for this beautiful article. Reading this article really reminded me of the great scientist of the past – particularly Galileo Galilei. I think he was the first known scientist who explored the universe by saying that the earth is circling the sun instead of the sun circling the earth. His theory created a lot of controversy and conflict with the church because it invalidate what the earth has been teaching its followers.
When I read this, I realise a lot of things, what Buddha thought 2500 years ago have been proven to be true time and again. 2500 years ago, there were no scientist to proof what He taught, and yet what He said is proven to be truth – it must be due to his power of omniscience.
Another realisation dawn upon me – if the universe has existed since the beginning less time, and our human life span is so short – there is really no used to be attached to anything because we will part with all we like or dislike eventually, and in the end nothing really matters other than the control and the development of our mind.
Valentina
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this mind blowing article.
The outer space had always been an interesting place for humans to discover and understand. Until now with the technologies that we have, we are still unable to fully comprehend and understand the universe. However, the Buddha had already taught about the universe 2600 years ago with teachings known as Abhidharma. This shows Buddha’s omniscient and all knowing ability.
When we look at the outer space, I am able to feel how small I am. I am just a speck in the entire universe. But then, why do I feel I am the most important person in the universe when I get angry? My problems felt very “big” when it happens. I realise that ego had always conjured an illusion that is not true to us and learning dharma can cut those delusions.
Humbly,
Chris
In the spectrum of the universe, humans are so minute and insignificant. As a species, humans may be constantly evolving and learning, but our knowledge and understanding of how the universe works is too primitive to say the least. Whatever humans had once prove to be the theory (like the Big Bang) can be disproved as new theories and evidence get discovered over time.
From Buddha’s teaching, we learn so much about the universe that is way ahead of what we can comprehend. For example; no beginning and no end, the different realms, planetary systems beyond our own solar system. Hence, it is no surprise that in near future the Quantum Equation theory will be proven correct as it is more aligned with how Buddha had described the universe to be.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interesting article.
Humbly, bowing down,
Stella Cheang
This is definitely a very interesting theory to attempt to explain how the universe began or in this case never began as it is beginining-less. However there is still a whole lot of “ifs”.
If this new model is to be proven as true as mankind can hope to prove, then base on this theory the universe has no beginning and hence also no end.
In Buddhism, I have often heard the phrase “beginning-less time” and while this supports this new model of a beginning-less universe (I am assuming here that time only exist within the universe), Buddhism spoke of a possible “end” when we reached enlightenment.
It would be interesting to see if further analysis and research into this new model would result in a theory that supports a beginning-less universe but has a end.