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CHAPTER 8 THE ORIGIN AND FATE OF THE UNIVERSE
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Einstein’s general theory of relativity, on its own, predictedthat space-time began at the big bang singularity and wouldcome to an end either at the big crunch1 singularity (if thewhole universe recollapsed), or at a singularity inside a blackhole (if a local region, such as a star, were to collapse2). Anymatter that fell into the hole would be destroyed at thesingularity, and only the gravitational effect of its mass wouldcontinue to be felt outside. On the other hand, when quantumeffects were taken into account, it seemed that the mass orenergy of the matter would eventually be returned to the restof the universe, and that the black hole, along with anysingularity inside it, would evaporate away and finally disappear.
Could quantum mechanics have an equally dramatic effect onthe big bang and big crunch singularities? What really happensduring the very early or late stages of the universe, whengravitational fields are so strong that quantum effects cannot beignored? Does the universe in fact have a beginning or anend? And if so, what are they like?
Throughout the 1970s I had been mainly studying blackholes, but in 1981 my interest in questions about the origin andfate of the universe was reawakened when I attended aconference on cosmology organized by the Jesuits in theVatican. The Catholic Church had made a bad mistake withGalileo when it tried to lay down the law on a question ofscience, declaring that the sun went round the earth. Now,centuries later, it had decided3 to invite a number of experts toadvise it on cosmology. At the end of the conference theparticipants were granted an audience with the Pope. He toldus that it was all right to study the evolution of the universeafter the big bang, but we should not inquire into the big bangitself because that was the moment of Creation and thereforethe work of God. I was glad then that he did not know thesubject of the talk I had just given at the conference - thepossibility that space-time was finite but had no boundary,which means that it had no beginning, no moment of Creation.
I had no desire to share the fate of Galileo, with whom I feela strong sense of identity, partly because of the coincidence ofhaving been born exactly 300 years after his death!
In order to explain the ideas that I and other people havehad about how quantum mechanics may affect the origin andfate of the universe, it is necessary first to understand thegenerally accepted history of the universe, according to what isknown as the “hot big bang model.” This assumes that theuniverse is described by a Friedmann model, right back to thebig bang. In such models one finds that as the universeexpands, any matter or radiation in it gets cooler. (When theuniverse doubles in size, its temperature falls by half.) Sincetemperature is simply a measure of the average energy - orspeed - of the particles, this cooling of the universe would havea major effect on the matter in it. At very high temperatures,particles would be moving around so fast that they couldescape any attraction toward each other due to nuclear orelectromagnetic forces, but as they cooled off one would expectparticles that attract each other to start to
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1
crunch
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| n.关键时刻;艰难局面;v.发出碎裂声 | |
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collapse
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| vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛,草丛;vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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annihilate
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| v.使无效;毁灭;取消 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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neutrons
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| n.中子( neutron的名词复数 ) | |
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neutron
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| n.中子 | |
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annihilated
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| v.(彻底)消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 );使无效;废止;彻底击溃 | |
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indirectly
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| adv.间接地,不直接了当地 | |
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nuclei
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| n.核 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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collapsing
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| 压扁[平],毁坏,断裂 | |
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galaxies
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| 星系( galaxy的名词复数 ); 银河系; 一群(杰出或著名的人物) | |
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rotation
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| n.旋转;循环,轮流 | |
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galaxy
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| n.星系;银河系;一群(杰出或著名的人物) | |
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fusion
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| n.溶化;熔解;熔化状态,熔和;熔接 | |
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debris
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| n.瓦砾堆,废墟,碎片 | |
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initially
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| adv.最初,开始 | |
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emission
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| n.发出物,散发物;发出,散发 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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reptiles
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| n.爬行动物,爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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density
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| n.密集,密度,浓度 | |
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fluctuations
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| 波动,涨落,起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 ) | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物 | |
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configuration
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| n.结构,布局,形态,(计算机)配置 | |
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omnipotent
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| adj.全能的,万能的 | |
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realization
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| n.实现;认识到,深刻了解 | |
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underlying
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| adj.在下面的,含蓄的,潜在的 | |
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specify
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| vt.指定,详细说明 | |
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chaotic
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| adj.混沌的,一片混乱的,一团糟的 | |
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implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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spatially
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| 空间地,存在于空间地 | |
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spatial
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| adj.空间的,占据空间的 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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randomly
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| adv.随便地,未加计划地 | |
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configurations
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| n.[化学]结构( configuration的名词复数 );构造;(计算机的)配置;构形(原子在分子中的相对空间位置) | |
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primordial
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| adj.原始的;最初的 | |
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horde
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| n.群众,一大群 | |
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sonnets
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| n.十四行诗( sonnet的名词复数 ) | |
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unified
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| (unify 的过去式和过去分词); 统一的; 统一标准的; 一元化的 | |
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relatively
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| adv.比较...地,相对地 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
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radius
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| n.半径,半径范围;有效航程,范围,界限 | |
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unstable
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| adj.不稳定的,易变的 | |
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repulsive
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| adj.排斥的,使人反感的 | |
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outweighed
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| v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 );在重要性或价值方面超过 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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expend
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| vt.花费,消费,消耗 | |
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violation
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| n.违反(行为),违背(行为),侵犯 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置;机构,结构 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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moss
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| n.苔,藓,地衣 | |
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AIRWAYS
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| 航空公司 | |
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publicity
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| n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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demise
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| n.死亡;v.让渡,遗赠,转让 | |
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viable
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| adj.可行的,切实可行的,能活下去的 | |
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abetter
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| n.教唆者,怂恿者 | |
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dubious
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| adj.怀疑的,无把握的;有问题的,靠不住的 | |
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negation
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| n.否定;否认 | |
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formulate
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| v.用公式表示;规划;设计;系统地阐述 | |
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postulate
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| n.假定,基本条件;vt.要求,假定 | |
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coordinate
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| adj.同等的,协调的;n.同等者;vt.协作,协调 | |
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cone
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| n.圆锥体,圆锥形东西,球果 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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analogue
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| n.类似物;同源语 | |
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specifying
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| v.指定( specify的现在分词 );详述;提出…的条件;使具有特性 | |
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aesthetic
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| adj.美学的,审美的,有美感 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度,行动或言论的自由(范围),(pl.)地区 | |
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undone
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| a.未做完的,未完成的 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度 | |
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uncertainties
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| 无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 ); 不确定; 变化不定; 无把握、不确定的事物 | |
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velocities
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| n.速度( velocity的名词复数 );高速,快速 | |
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amplified
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| 放大,扩大( amplify的过去式和过去分词 ); 增强; 详述 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的 | |
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