Lecture 4 - Creation

How old is the Universe?

10,000 years or 10-20 Gyr (billion years) or infinitely old?

A cyclic Universe? - 4.32 Gyr in Hindu religion.

The Big Bang

Universe started from a "singularity" in space and time.

Russell Stannard:

Just as an author does not write the first chapter and leave the others to write themselves, so God's creativity is not seen as uniquely confined to, nor especially invested in, the event of the Big Bang. Rather, his creativity has to be seen as permeating equally all space and all time: his role as Creator and Sustainer merge.

Evidences for the Big Bang:

1. Expansion of the Universe.

Further away galaxies recede faster from us.
Velocity/Distance = H

where H is Hubble's Constant

Age of Universe = 1/H = Distance /Velocity =time.

Measure by the "red shift" = Doppler effect. -> Age of Universe 9.8 - 24,5 Gyr.
Maybe H varies - expansion slowing down.

Different methods for determining distances.
Nearest stars' distance measured by parallax.
Next, infer distance by measuring velocity components.
Next, for some star types, there is a relation between distance and brightness (or magnitude) of the star - act as "standard candles".

2. Cosmic black body radiation.

Penzias and Wilson's discovery. Sky radiates uniformly like a black body with temperature 2.7¡K.

Combine this with estimates of density of matter in the Universe, can calculate time at which Universe moved from being radiation dominated to matter dominated - about 2 million yr. E = mc2

Needed some non-uniformity for galaxy formation - Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite measurements.

3. Abundances of Deuterium, Helium and Lithium - can only be explained by presence of very special conditions near beginning of Universe - satisfied by Big Bang.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

Universe is "running down".
No perfectly efficient process - e.g. cannot convert all heat into ordered motion (say in steam engine): some heat always goes into random motionand cannot be recovered to do work. Called increase of entropy or "disorder".

Other methods to estimate age of Universe:
Calculations of time for development of globular clusters (oldest stars in galaxy): 10-20 Gyr.
Radioactive clocks: Uranium isotopes formed by neutron capture would have production ratio about 1.71. Measured ratio 235U/238U today is 0.00723. Knowing their half lives as 1.015 and 6.446 Gyr, can calculate time since their formation as 6.6 Gyr.

Cooling of white dwarf stars -> age of Universe calculated as 2.2 Gyr.

How creationists deal with this evidence.

(1) Astronomers have measured the distances to the stars and galaxies incorrectly. Many checks. If stars are nearer, they must be smaller - too small to burn - or else so bright night is lit up!

(2) In the beginning God created the light from distant stars already in transit. Hubble's Law observations suggest light has been travelling for 15Gyr - did God fix the light so it looks as though red shift for 15 Gyr when it had only travelled for 10,000 years??

(3) The speed of light may have been greater a few thousand years ago. Idea based on misunderstanding data. Change c in E = mc2 ?

(4) Light travels in highly curved lines, not straight lines. -> light arrives from same galaxies in two directions!

(5) There were no scientists present to observe and record the creation and long-ago events. We see distant stars long ago.

GENESIS

In the beginning God created the universe.

First 9 lines of Babylonian Epic of Creation Enuma elish parallel Genesis 11,2.

[Suggested that Genesis deliberately repudiates and demythologises this pagan cosmogony].

Days of creation

 
[stars only mentioned casually].

Then the lord [Marduk] paused to view her dead body [Tiamat],
That he might divide the monster and do artful works.
He split her like a shellfish into two parts;
Half of her he set up and ceiled it as sky,
Pulled down the bar and posted guards.
He bade them to allow not her waters to escape.

Scientific explanation of order in Genesis.

Anthropic principle:

Weak AP: We can only live in an environment suitable for our life.

Strong AP: Nature must provide a suitable environment for us somewhere, sometime.

Participatory AP: There must be observers present for the Universe to exist.

Final AP: Life will evolve towards an Omega Point. There we will have become God, able to create the Universe retrospectively.

Completely
Ridiculous
Anthropic
Principle ?

Ross: Assemble a Boeing 747 from tornado striking a junk yard?

Life generated as a result of chance? Need:

1. Right Molecules: 40 different elements need to bond together.
Electrostatic force must be just right for covalent bonds to form.
Ratio mass electron/mass proton - correct value required to give electron orbits of right size and stability.

2. Right atoms: 
Strong nuclear force just right - holds protons and neutrons together in nucleus.
Balance +0.3%, -2%.

Weak nuclear force (ß decay) - just right to get right mix of elements forming.

Gravitational force -
stronger=> stars would burn too hot.
weaker => stars not hot enough for nuclear fusion and so heavier elements not formed.

Nuclear energy levels of carbon and beryllium - exactly right or life-giving elements carbon, oxygen not formed.

"a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology " Hoyle.

3. Right nucleons.
Just after creation universe had ratio
(107 + 1 nucleons)/(107 anti-nucleons).
Annihilation => energy, leaving enough nucleons to make stars and galaxies.
Too many => galaxies so dense that sars and planets not formed.

Neutron mass 0.138% greater than proton => more protons than electrons in universe.

0.1% more massive => not enough neutrons for heavy elements.
0.1% less massive => protons decay to neutrons => neeutron stars or black holes.

4. Right electrons.
No. electrons = no. protons to one part in 1037 or electromagnetic forces would overcome gravitational forces and no galaxies, stars or planets formed.

Total 25 constraints on physical constants,
Total 32 constraints on galaxy-Sun-Earth-Moon system.

Many universes?

Further Information

Contact

• Associate Professor Robert J. Stening