The end of the Universe & a new beginning?

Question

I have come up with somewhat of a theory after thinking about it for a bit.

Okay, so all matter has gravity. The Big Bang expelled all the matter in the primeval atom. We are currently still in the "expanding" part of the Big Bang. But since everything has gravity, wouldn't the expanding slow down, and slowly gravitate back to the origin of the Big Bang?

Or perhaps everything would not gravitate back to the origin, but things would begin to gravitate together to form larger and larger galaxies, and then all the larger galaxies form to make even larger ones, all until it makes a super galaxy. When the super galaxy is created, then everything will orbit around the center until it slowly gets closer and closer, until it is all the size of an atom.

Could it just be one continuous cycle of exploding, regrouping, and exploding again?

Please discuss and don't criticize if this sounds stupid, as it probably does.

Thanks ;)

Adam

Answer 1

The universe could indeed be cyclical like this.  A lot of ancient civilizations, the Mayans among them, believed that the universe was indeed created and destroyed at regular intervals.  This "Big Crunch Theory" is also popular among many astrophysicists today.

However, you also have to take into account just how slight the gravitational pull is between galaxies that are that far apart.  It's about like if you set two soccer balls about 200 ft. apart.  They won't move toward each other, because the gravity between them is far too weak.

Answer 2

What you have described is the Big Crunch theory, but I'm sorry to say that it is not popular among astrophysicists today (it was up to about 2 years ago). Current measurements indicate that the universe is expanding fast enough that the gravity will never be enough to pull it back together again.

Answer 3

It doesn't sound stupid at all. In fact, this is a theory that scientists are beginning to believe.

There are two possible consequences for the Big Bang energy. One, it was large enough to prevent the eventual collapse of the Universe into a Big Crunch. This means the Universe would continue to expand forever, and it would die at some point.

The other one is yours, a collapse and subsequent re-explosion of the compacted matter, forming a new Universe. It is believed that the Universe has already existed before, but it is not clear (and will never be) if that Universe or those Universes also supported life.

Answer 4

This was considered not long after the "Big Bang" theory became popular;  It's called "The Big Crunch", and proposed that after the matter of a Big Bang flew apart, gravity would *have* to compress it back again, eventually - maybe to explode *again.*  

Answer 5

Your following down the path of the "Big crunch". I personally haven't decided on an answer to how the universe will end, but this one is a top contender right now.

The big crunch is basically showing that the universe goes throughout a cycle... it is created, then it is destroyed. And then its created again. That is one of the leading ways to explain *how* the universe works, and possible *what* started the big bang.

The idea is that gravity will eventually over come all other forces. As you know, gravity is really a weak force. It takes a lot of matter for any object to have a noticeable gravitational pull. But gravity is constant... everything in the universe consisting of matter also creates a certain amount of gravity. Basic Newton. Even you and I create our own field of gravity, even though it is small.

One variation of this idea is that as the universe expands, gravity will be stronger. The universe stretches, so there is more resistance... this resistance is gravity. So gravity eventually becomes stronger. Eventually it becomes so strong that it pulls the universe back. The universe stops expanding, and it goes into rewind. Some say that time itself may go backwards... personally, I think that's a bit out there, but it does make sense.

So all matter and all energy is being pulled back with the universe. Instead of galaxies moving away from each other like they are now, they come closer. When they do get close there Will be chaotic explosions, and the universe will heat up. Some argue this will stop the universe from crunching because gravity can't keep it together. Its like witha  blue hyper giant.... its so hot that gravity can't hold all of it together. But because gravity will be getting stronger, everything will be pulled back into the singularity in which it was to begin with.

This would explain why matter and energy appeared... it was already there. But it still leads to the question *what* started the cycle. I think that the universe has simply always been here. I haven't made up my mind completely on the idea that the universe is a cycle, but it does make sense to me.

When all of the matter and energy is captured, and gravity captures the entire universe, it explodes.

One question is *why* gravity wouldn't pull it back instantly. This was a problem that was bugging astrophysicists about the idea. The answer comes with a radical new theory on one of the first stages in the big bang. In less than a millionth of a second after the explosion, there is a period of extreme rapid expansion that kicked gravity back. For less than a second the universe expanded more rapidly than it ever will again. Probably because of all the trapped matter and energy.

Your idea isn't stupid at all... its so good that its already a well accepted idea in the scientific community. If only you were born about 30 years ago... But don't worry, this idea has some holes and could use some fixing. Obviously you have the basics of the big bang down so why not take a stab at fixing some of the problems?

Answer 6

Yes, but that idea was proposed already. I believe it was the big crunch theory.