[Off topic, but seems to merit a reply] On Sunday 01 October 2006 18:09, Paul Leyland wrote: > On Sun, 2006-10-01 at 18:40, Brian Beesley wrote: > > Sorry but I don't understand this. In fact the universe is finite in > > content and time > > Are you sure of that?
In the sense of a mathematical proof, no. But according to the current generally accepted standard cosmological models (Big Bang, string theory) the assertion seems to be true. In particular: We are unable to track any events prior to the Big Bang (or the local Little Bang, in the colliding brane model). So the time we are able to use up to the present is indeed finite. It follows from this that the content of the universe we see is finite, else it would have collapsed back to a singularity by now, or at any rate before the inflationary effect of the cosmological constant began to overcome gravity in the very early, very dense universe. If - despite the cosmological constant - the Universe does collapse in the future, the time we are able to influence would also seem to be finite. If the universe continues to expand (at an exponentially rapid rate, thanks to the cosmological constant) then as matter decays to naked baryons & tachyons, black holes evaporate etc. there will come a point when time effectively stops as there will be essentially no interactions. (The density of fundamental particles will "soon" become rather less than one per a volume equal to the current volume of our universe). This will make computing rather awkward, combined with the maintenance of any organic life able to use the results of any computation. > > I look forward to reading your forthcoming paper where you prove that > claim. I didn't invent the theories outlined above. In any case, cosmology is essentially an observational science whereas quantum physics is a model of the behaviour of fundamental particles which seems to explain the observed universe rather well but, according to at least some mathematicians better than me, seems to be based on unsound mathematics. Sorry, but I can't provide your proof, now or in the forseeable future. Neither could Einstein, Hawking or any of the other great physicists who have worked in this area. If you believe in the Lord God Almighty (or any of his equivalents in the other major monotheistic religions) then please try asking Him to reveal His proof. Though, as pointed out in the Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, your request may well be denied, as proof denies faith, and without faith God is nothing. Regards Brian Beesley _______________________________________________ Prime mailing list [email protected] http://hogranch.com/mailman/listinfo/prime
