New Theory Questions Big Bang, 'Cosmic Fossils' Allegedly Still Forming the Universe

The theory of the origin of the universe. (Wikimedia Commons illustration - Tempshill)

JAKARTA - The idea that the universe began with a big bang called the Big Bang is again questioned. Citing a report from The Independent, Monday, April 20, a team of scientists from England and Spain put forward a theory that the Big Bang may not be the beginning of everything, but rather a reflection of the collapse of a universe that already existed.

The theory was published in the journal Physical Review D by researchers from the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, as well as the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona. In the study, the team of researchers suspected that some black holes from the previous phase of the universe could survive until now as "cosmic fossils".

According to the research team, if the hypothesis is correct, the remnant of the ancient black hole could help explain dark matter and the early process of galaxy formation.

The lead author of the study, Professor Enrique Gaztañaga, said the standard Big Bang model has been very successful in explaining the cosmic microwave background radiation and the distribution of galaxies. However, according to Gaztanaga, the model has not answered a number of basic questions.

"We still don't know what triggered the Big Bang, why the universe started in such a special condition, what caused inflation, or what dark matter really is," Gaztañaga said, as quoted by The Independent.

In this new theory, the universe is thought to have first undergone a violent contraction to reach a very dense and hot state. However, according to the hypothesis, the universe does not collapse to an infinite point. Instead, it reaches a very high density limit and then bounces back and expands again.

The research team said compact objects measuring more than about 90 meters could possibly pass through the transition period and reappear in the current universe. In addition to black holes, according to them, other possible remnants are gravitational waves and minor disturbances in the distribution of matter.

In the scenario they put forward, the ancient black holes could also have an impact on the formation of galaxies billions of years later. In fact, according to the research team, if the number is large enough, these objects may make up most, or even all, of the dark matter.

"If this theory is correct, these ancient objects could help explain a number of long-standing mysteries in cosmology, including the nature of dark matter and the processes that trigger galaxy formation," the research team said.

This theory also touches on one of the weak points of Einstein's general relativity, namely the singularity. In simple terms, a singularity is a point when the physics we know is no longer able to explain what is happening. Therefore, the research team offers another possibility, namely the universe does not start from a single explosion that emerges from zero, but from cosmic reflection.

This study is still a hypothesis and has not become a final conclusion. According to the research team, the theory still has to be tested, including by looking for ancient gravitational waves or subtle traces in cosmic background radiation that may hold signs of the period before the Big Bang.