This is from a regular science column I write in order to break down complex scientific theories down to a level where the average sci-fi fan without extensive scientific training can understand them. Please forgive where I over simplify.
Where Did The Universe Come From?
by Michael Bradley
Mankind is the only known species that spends time dwelling on how we happen to be here and do we have a purpose. Beliefs both in science and in religion permeate every human society even in prehistoric times. This primer will only deal with the astrophysics theorems as they have altered over modern times.
The atomic age brought in a theory that everything in the universe is composed of atoms. These were classified on the handy Chart of Elements, protons and neutrons counted, electrons counted, rings of electrons and atomic mass all classified. Unfortunately, this atomic theory fell apart as proof of dark matter appeared. (This is discussed in an earlier article.) Scientists, using Doppler theory, radio transmission and the red-blue shift now vary in believing atoms represent only 2% to 17% of the universe. It is like standing in a dark field where 1,000 people have flashlights across from you, but maybe only two turn them on. So we thought there were only two.
The rejection of atomic theory led to a radical theory called string theory. That our universe basically is like a violin string that vibrates in ten dimensions. This would explain many things, but it could not explain the beginning of things, the quantum singularity which many refer to as the big bang. Also, string theory broke into five different theories instead of one. Another group of theorists, the heavy gravity crowd believed that there were in fact 11 dimensions, not ten.
These two groups merged after fighting for years, and developed string theory using 11 dimensions, and suddenly the mathematics began to work and the five collapsed to one. However, there were still problems. The weakness of gravity is one problem. Gravity might seem strong as it keeps things in orbit and keeps us from flying off Earth, and yet a weak child can pick an apple off the ground and toss it into the air. Electromagnetism on the other hand can hold that same weight of ferrous material quite tightly.
Theorist began to wonder why gravity was weak. Is it leaking out of our known universe? Then someone came up with M theory, that instead of strings vibrating in 11 dimensions, that there is a membrane like object quivering in 11 dimensions. If there were also other membranes, or P-branes, they could all co-exist and each have radically different laws of physics. Perhaps gravity does NOT leak from our universe, but leaks INTO our universe from another P-brane consisting of nothing but gravitation?
The more the M theory explored these alternative universes, the more it made sense. Basically, we are all intertwined membranes with unique series of attributes. So what of the big bang? Theorists now believe the membranes come in all sorts of sizes, flat, donut-shaped, and more. As they move around and they shimmy and wiggle, they can run into each other. A collision of membranes would not only explain the beginning of our universe, but also why clumps of it move differently, and why there are so many varieties of galaxies. They were each made separately as individual wrinkles in wiggly P-branes collided multiple times.
It is the first modern theorem that can go beyond the quantum singularity of the big bang and explore what happened before. If you picture a room filled with bubbles, floating around and sometimes touching, sometimes popping, sometimes combining or bouncing off each other, then that is one way of visualizing the infinite P-branes of which our M universe is one random bubble formed by collision and proximity with others and we each leak into and out of the others, forming our own unique laws of physics.
Religion or Science? Astrophysics does not disprove or prove a greater power. The more we explore the complexities and find just how beautiful and complicated existence is, the more each side has ammunition. Believers will say that if you found a Swiss watch in the Sahara desert, keeping perfect time, would you think it evolved there, or that someone designed it and made it? The more complex the design, the more it implies a designer. However, most believers also acknowledge that this Creator will not give us proof, that we have to take a leap of faith.
Non-believers in the world of physics are looking for a single mathematical formula that will explain EVERYTHING. M theory combined with P-branes and alternative universes co-existing in dark matter, all bumping together and affecting each other is the latest theory. They believe there is NO Creator, despite the inclination of humans throughout history to build shrines and worship a Creator.
In the end, if an answer is ever definitively theorized, tested and proven, it will still leave one question unanswered. Did it all just happen? Or, did some Creator set it in motion?
Michael Bradley - Time Traveler 