Did our universe-and time itself-begin with the Big Bang? Or, is our universe even older and more mellow than we have imagined? A noted physicist offers an alternative view of the origins of the heavens beyond.

Before the Big Bang
Banged

Ever since scientists have concluded that the universe is an ever-expanding mass of matter and energy, they have also assumed that its origins can be traced to a micro-moment in time popularly known as the Big Bang that took place some 10 billion years ago. Theorems-and popular waitings-by physicists Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose have lent weight to this construct.

Now some scientists, led by a group of string theorists and cosmologists, are questioning the Big Bang theory. They are suggesting that the universe may have begun its "life" long before the Big Bang banged. In fact, these scientists suggest that the origins of our universe may lie in an environment that was as bone-chilling and empty as the current environment found in our distant heavens.

Two distinctive properties of string theory are driving this alternative to the standard Big Bang theory: the presence of a new particle/field-the so-called dilaton-and the interrelated existence of new symmetries, referred to as dualities.

Peeling away the complexities that surround these two competing theories, the core of the argument is this: Under the Big Bang theory, what ultimately generated densities and pressures that produced an unfathomable explosion is left without scientific explanation-possibly, to religion.

Under the new model, our "pre-Big Bang" universe consisted of a "mirror"-or "dual"-image of our current universe. Thus, at the very beginning, the universe resembled the present one with a notable exception: all forces were much much weaker than they are now.

Put more simply, string theorists and cosmologists, who support the "dual" phase construct of the universe, claim that its current properties did not originate with an explosion that took place some 10 billion years ago. As Penrose points out in his book, The Emperor's New Mind, an explosion would have been an unlikely event. Instead, he and other like-minded theorists claim that the present properties of the universe naturally originated from its long pre-Big Bang history.

Such a model, if verified, could have considerable scientific and philosophical consequences. For physicists, the pre-Big Bang scenario provides new sources of cosmic gravitational waves and primordial magnetic fields. For other scientists-and even everyday citizens-who rarely think about the origins of the universe, this new theory could alter the way they think about both our past and future. One implication of the model appears to be that the universe, rather than recollapsing, will keep expanding forever.

Additional research and analyses may yet undermine this new theory. For the moment, however, it is fascinating to consider that our universe may be much older than the 10-billion year estimation made by physicists and cosmologists just a few years ago.

Gabriele Veneziano
CERN

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