What’s Wrong With the Big Bang Theory? | Space Time | PBS Digital Studios

There's a problem with the Big Bang Theory.

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Now that we have a primer on the aspects of the Big Bang Theory that we know definitely happened, let’s look further into what we don’t yet know, and how the theory could progress in the future. Since there is a discrepancy between general relativity and quantum mechanics, we continue to search for a grand unifying theory... one which may finally lead to a description of the actual moment of the Big Bang! On this week's Space Time, Matt describes what specifically needs fixing within the current theory, and the reasons why.

FURTHER READING:

Electroweak Era
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COMMENTS:

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Written and hosted by Matt O’Dowd

[brandonduncan]

Can we just take a minute to appreciate the graphic artists and all the work they put into making these episodes so visually beautiful?

[jester_]

I know what happened before the Big Bang.

Somebody yelled “DON’T TOUCH THA...”

[huh]

these guys know what happened in the first sextillionth second of the universe, meanwhile i dont remember what i had for breakfast this morning

[JesterAzazel]

My main problem with it, is that damn laugh track.

[ArjunKumar-rwqd]

I'll tell you what's wrong with big bang theory. they should've stopped after season 6. now it just sucks.

[flst]

the biggest problem I have with the big bang theory is that the characters undergo zero development throughout the series

[ICEknightnine]

And then God said "yo Steve, would it be a good idea to microwave this?"
This is how the universe was born.

[fbmw]

I like to hear these words that I can't imagine nor understand. it helps me sleep faster.

[greglott]

If I ever start feeling smart, I just come to this channel. Five minutes in I'm guaranteed to feel like Patrick Star.

[hamnasahi]

What do u call a hydrocarbon that tells fart jokes? Crude oil

[AdamKindaVlogs]

I swear one sentence he sounds Aussie the next he sounds British the next he sounds American and the next Irish.



dem likes do

[BENCMEN]

I love how they acknowledge what they don't yet know. And make everything more interesting doing so.

[NeonsStyleHD]

I'm 63, n I've been voraciously devouring science books since I was 27, and no one explains things as concisely, and beautifully as PBS Spacetime. Write a book!

[EyeToob]

The 3 answers this video presents concerning the question of the video : *What's Wrong With the Big Bang Theory?*

*#1* 0:48 - 4:00 The Big Bang Theory is unable to describe what happened at the origin of the observable universe. Descriptions of the observable universe before 10 to the power of -32 of the first second are questionable because we cannot test those conditions (yet).

*#2* 4:00 - 4:45 The Big Bang Theory relies on speculation when describing the observable universe being as small (or smaller) as the Planck length within the first second. Why is it speculation? Because it might be impossible for anything to be as small (or smaller) as the Planck length. The length of a Planck length to the width of a human hair is the same as the width of a human hair is to the length of the observable universe.

*#3* 4:58 - 8:44 The Big Bang Theory cannot account for the uniform temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation throughout the observable universe due to the Horizon Problem. So the idea of Inflation was created in an attempt to explain this characteristic of the CMB temperature, but there is no evidence to support Inflation's existence in history. This is a problem.


#4 Missing Magnetic Monopoles
The models used in supercomputers to figure out what happened during the Big Bang predict we should have Magnetic Monopoles everywhere in our universe, but we have never found one. A magnetic monopole is a hypothetical elementary particle that is an isolated magnet with only one magnetic pole (a north pole without a south pole or vice versa).

#5 The Flatness Problem
Space-time in our current observable universe is extremely flat. It has just a slight curve to it, but in a 14 billion year old universe that started from a single point this is theoretically impossible. A universe that's been expanding around 14 billion years will be completely flat or massively curved since any curvature deviation at the beginning will expand with the universe's expansion. It's the small difference in the initial conditions that can make a huge difference much further in time, yet the universe barely has any curvature.

#6 The Clumpiness Issue
The observable universe is fairly clumpy at the greatest scale. We can see clumps and filaments of galaxy clusters leaving giant voids of nothingness. When seen all together they resemble a massive sponge. We are told the universe went through an explosive beginning, but the clumpiness we see throughout the observable universe contradicts this. The models of the universe scientists use predicted the matter to be distributed more smoothly and evenly throughout the observable universe so the idea of dark matter was introduced in an attempt to explain this clumpiness, but we have no proof of any dark matter. This is a problem.



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[danielknull]

Your level of explanation is perfect! I never realized the need for grand unification theory is exclusively applicable to a very specific time/space/temperature of the model. In all the other books I’ve read it’s explained more as of a desire for consensus among scientists as opposed to a demand at a specific spot in the model itself.

[ellistomago]

The more we learn, the more mysterious things get.

[IoannisKazlaris]

The only problem with the Big Bang Theory is that no one tells us why it banged.

[felixironfist]

Why didn't the Universe collapse into a black hole, if it was so dense and massive?

[brenthildenbrand]

I wish I could understand what he’s talking about. It sounds very interesting.

[paulneelon]

The biggest question is what is space (or spacetime if you prefer). Gravity is an attribute of space - space is warped by massive objects, which essentially means that distance (or space if you prefer) is malleable, causing the same distance to be a different distance closer to a massive object than farther from the massive object (if whatever is time can slow or speed, why cannot whatever is space shrink or grow). Distance is a measure of how far apart objects are, but what if that distance is dependent on the state of space between them? You can move objects closer together by moving them closer together, or by leaving them unchanged and changing the state of space between them (Dune's travelling without moving).
This difference in distance (or warping) causes the effect (or force) of gravity - all things flow down the slope of warped space, which explains why things of different mass, are effected by gravity in the same way (both items are falling down the same slope). This difference in the state of space (or distance) explains gravitational lensing and the detection of gravitational waves.
We always focus on "stuff" - the big bang starts with all the stuff being in a grain of sand (because "stuff" is what we experience and think about), but what we should be trying to understand is what is space. At the moment of the big bang, space did not exist - therefore there was no gravity, since gravity is an attribute of space, all the "stuff" being in a grain of sand did not cause any problems, because there was no "space" for all that "stuff" to be in and no gravity existed to cause a ginormous black hole. The big bang began when space came into existence, suddenly creating the conditions where "stuff" needed to be elsewhere. However, if space is just an empty void, how can it come into existence? IMO