Jones, Stephen, and John,
All of us seem to be on a similar track.
Here are some things that seemed to self generate out of the Big Bang Simulator.
1. The universe seems to be open according to the WMAP study, but local clusters do form in the Simulator and do expand outward as a group.
2. Both matter and energy are required to form gravity. As the universe expands, the energy field seems to decrease in strength and probably, but not shown, matter eventually disintegrates. (Perhaps other forces do also)
3. In building the model, it was hard to think of the size and shape of the universe. It may all be contained within a growing wall, or the energy field may be bigger. It seems unlikely that the matter field would be bigger since, as I said above, it would disintgrate without the energy field. The model is based on a round, bubble-like field. It was used because the background radiation is so uniform in all directions.
4. At some point, it would appear that we may be headed for a phase shift. We have a universe where the matter and energy fields exist side by side. The model shows that they are mutually dependent to create gravity and probably many other effects. What happens when one of these fields is removed or lessened? The model shows a rapidly growing outburst (which agrees with the WMAP findings), but what then? Could the "bubble burst" and the universe become closed, for example. Jones, Stephen, and John have made good points. Obviously there are many more questions to answer.
Bob
