Diving deep into the world of emergent gravity

[rangerrebew]

Diving deep into the world of emergent gravity
Getting rid of dark matter would be a big ordeal, so we talk to the man behind the theory.

Chris Lee - 5/22/2017, 7:30 AM
 
 

The Universe is a strange place. Apart from the normal matter that we see around us, there appears to be a far larger amount of matter that we cannot see—the infamous dark matter. Even more puzzling, the Universe seems to be bathed in a similarly invisible dark energy, which drives the Universe to expand faster and faster. This all points to something missing from our understanding. At the moment, we tend to think that dark matter is something missing from quantum mechanics, a particle that provides dark matter. Dark energy seems to be more gravity related.

https://arstechnica.com/features/2017/05/emergent-gravity-and-dark-matter-explained-by-excited-universe/

[Doug Loss]

I've said this in the past.  The whole concept of dark energy/dark matter seems very similar to the concept of aether: something unobserved and likely unobservable that was needed to make the theories du jour work.  It seems to me that it would make more sense to observe the universe and alter the theories to fit the observations rather than to posit various convenient yet unobservable elements just to keep the theories going.  Occam's Razor ought to apply, oughtn't it?

[Cripplecreek]

I've said this in the past.  The whole concept of dark energy/dark matter seems very similar to the concept of aether: something unobserved and likely unobservable that was needed to make the theories du jour work.  It seems to me that it would make more sense to observe the universe and alter the theories to fit the observations rather than to posit various convenient yet unobservable elements just to keep the theories going.  Occam's Razor ought to apply, oughtn't it?

Aether was an interesting concept that there must be a medium for light to travel through like sound or electricity require. Its easy enough to understand why they believed the theory with limited understanding.

[Suppressed]

Aether was an interesting concept that there must be a medium for light to travel through like sound or electricity require. Its easy enough to understand why they believed the theory with limited understanding.

Of course, there's aether...how else could we go to the moon with nothing to push against??  Try walking on ice...if your foot slips back, you don't go forward!



We have workable designs for a trip to Mars today! Focus the sun onto a boiler, which can turn a screw like a typical powered sea vessel.   

[Smokin Joe]

Aether was an interesting concept that there must be a medium for light to travel through like sound or electricity require. Its easy enough to understand why they believed the theory with limited understanding.

Just as dark matter exposes our limited understanding.

[Gideon300]

All this talk of dark matter, aether, and space brings up some paradoxes I've had dwelling in my mind all my life. 

1.  Is it possible to have "nothing"?  If you could evacuate a container to the point of removing every atom, every sub-atomic particle, insulate it against the entrance of neutrinos and other unknown flying objects, what would you have inside the container?  Would that area even exist at all?  Some say you would have "space", but even space is something.  If nothing else, you would have an area full of gravity, which is impossible to insulate against.  So I would posit it is impossible to have nothing. 

2.  Some theories claim that before the Big Bang there was only gravity.  If all matter, energy, time and space were created from an infinitesimally small Singularity, then where did it reside if space had not yet been created?  Did it burst forth from nothingness in an infinitely large field of gravity, creating an expanding bubble of existence and matter? 

3.  Some say the rate of universal expansion is increasing, others claim that is a misinterpretation of data.  I've read that the age of the universe is less than 20 billion years based on the farthest observed light sources, but it leaves open the possibility that it could be much bigger (therefore older) but we don't have the technology to make those observations.  Those who are analyzing the remnants and decay of radiation from the Big Bang say the universe is indeed about 20 billion years or less in age.  If gravity is really the force driving, or at least enforcing, all this cosmic activity, then it stands to reason that the galaxies, dark matter, dust and all particles of matter created in the original explosion will eventually be collected into bigger and bigger clumps, mega-conglomerations, black holes, etc., and eventually all come crashing together again in a Big Crunch, smashing itself down into another Singularity of infinite density, only to burst forth again as another Big Bang.  This theory is well known, though not accepted by all cosmologists. 

My belief is that the Big Bang/Big Crunch is true and has happened an infinite number of times, and will continue an infinite number of times more.  God said "Let there be light!", and all creation burst forth into existence.  Again, and again, infinitely. The heartbeat of God.