Cosmology: a universe from nothing? (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, May 23, 2014, 18:13 (3838 days ago) @ David Turell

Yes, according to physicists, but not really:-"According to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, quantum fluctuations in the metastable false vacuum ... a state absent of space, time or matter ... can give rise to virtual particle pairs. Ordinarily these pairs self-annihilate almost instantly, but if these virtual particles separate immediately, they can avoid annihilation, creating a true vacuum bubble. The Wuhan team's equations show that such a bubble has the potential to expand exponentially, causing a new universe to appear. All of this begins from quantum behavior and leads to the creation of a tremendous amount of matter and energy during the inflation stage. (Note that as stated in this paper, the metastable false vacuum has "neither matter nor space or time," but is a form of wavefunction referred to as "quantum potential." While most of us wouldn't be inclined to call this "nothing," physicists do refer to it as such.)"-http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2014/05/22/is-all-the-universe-from-nothing/