Cosmologists have amassed convincing evidence that time and space began in a gigantic explosion that occurred some 13.7 billion years ago in what is commonly called the Big Bang. However, cosmologists have no idea of what occurred during the first 10-43 seconds following the initiation of the Bang. They call this period the “Planck epoch” and postulate that all the forces and quanta of the emergent universe were unified. It is meaningless to postulate what came before the Big Bang because neither time nor space existed prior to this event. The model says that the expansion of the universe is due to the expansion of space itself. If this were not so then distant galaxies would be moving away from us at a speed greater than light—which is not possible. Another consequence of this type of expansion is that the universe, which began as a point, has no center. No matter where you stand in the universe, everything is observed to be receding from you at the same relative rate.
The Big Bang model of cosmogenesis does have a few anomalies that are solved by adding a process called “cosmic inflation.” This occurred immediately after the birth of the universe. According to this theory, the universe initially expanded very rapidly—much faster than the speed of light. Since it was space that expanded, this does not contradict the theory of relativity, since the speed of light was not affected. At the end of inflation, the universe decayed into the normal expansion observed today. Following inflation the universe was still too hot for ordinary matter to exist, but in less than a few million years the universe cooled sufficiently to allow the formation of subatomic particles, and then atoms—mostly hydrogen along with smaller amounts of helium and lithium.
Scientists now recognize that the fundamental forces and physical laws of nature seem to be perfectly tuned to allow for the existence of stars, planets, water, and ultimately for the emergence of living organisms, and ultimately for the evolution of human beings. This has been termed the “Goldilocks enigma.”
In order for the universe to be long-lived, there had to be a very fine balance between the total mass-energy of the universe and the force of gravity. If the universe following the Big Bang had only a tiny bit more mass-energy, then gravity would have won out and the universe would have collapsed after a few million years. On the other hand, if the mass-energy had been less or the cosmological constant— the value for the energy of empty space—even a tiny bit greater, the universe would have been essentially empty after a few million years. In neither case, would life have been able to develop in the universe. Noted physicist, Stephen Hawking, calculated that the odds that these numbers would come about by chance as one in 1018. He concluded that chance alone could not explain the fine-tuning of our universe—there had to be some other explanation.[1]
There are four fundamental forces responsible for shaping the universe. These are gravity, electromagnetic, weak, and strong nuclear forces. The distances covered and strengths of the four forces differ greatly. The strong nuclear force is extremely strong since it must overcome the mutual repulsion of protons in the nucleus of atoms; however, it only acts over an extremely short distance. The nuclear weak force is intermediate in strength and acts over a short distance. The electromagnetic force is also intermediate in strength and acts over a short distance (for example, the electromagnetic attraction of electrons for protons), and over great distances in the form of radiation, such as light. Gravity is an extremely weak force but it can act over astronomical distances.
The exquisite fine-tuning of these four forces is required for a long-lived universe and for the conditions necessary for the emergence of life on Earth. For example, the strong nuclear force, which binds protons and neutrons in the nucleus of atoms, is just the right strength to make stable atomic nuclei. The relative strengths of the strong nuclear force and gravity had to be very finely tuned in order for stars to form and be long-lived. If the gravitation force was weaker or nuclear force stronger than the hydrogen fuel for stars would be either not dense enough to undergo thermonuclear fusion or so dense that only high density bodies would form such as black holes or neutron stars. Increasing the strength of the strong nuclear force by even 2 percent would mean that protons would not form from the neutrons formed in the Big Bang and atoms would not exist.
All the various subatomic particle masses had to be fine-tuned in order for life to exist in our universe. For example, the proton-neutron masses differ by about 1 part in a thousand and their masses equal twice the electron’s mass. If this difference were even slightly different then all neutrons would have quickly decayed into protons or else all protons would have irreversibly decayed into neutrons. In either case, stable hydrogen-burning stars could not exist. In addition, the fusion of hydrogen nuclei to create helium in the center of stars releases just the right amount of energy to power stars for a very long time, thus maintaining a more moderate and constant temperature on planets such as Earth. This enabled higher life forms to evolve on Earth, a process that took billions of years.
If the nuclear weak force had been slightly stronger, then the Big Bang would have quickly burned all hydrogen to helium. Neither water nor long-lived stars would exist. The weak force is also perfectly tuned to allow for the radioactive decay of heavy elements, which heat Earth’s molten core, resulting in volcanism and a magnetic field that shields life on Earth from deadly cosmic radiation.
The electromagnetic force is responsible for light, heat, electricity, and for the chemistry that powers life. Even a slight variation in the strength of this force would have a profound effect upon stellar development and the chemistry of life. For example, if the electromagnetic force were slightly different stars might all be red or blue and either too cold or hot to create conditions on planets for the emergence of life. Such stars would also be unable to explode as supernovae and thus create the heavier elements required for life.
The chemistry of life depends on the fine-tuning of this force and is responsible for the unique properties of water, such as its high freezing and boiling points, solvating power, and expansion upon freezing. These properties have been essential for the evolution of life on Earth. Any slight change in the nature of the electromagnetic forces at work holding molecules together would drastically change the properties of other important molecules needed to support life including proteins and DNA.
Another example of fine-tuning is the value for the Higgs field, which is 246 GeV (gigaelectron volts). If this field that confers mass to all the elementary particles was different by even a small amount then the mass of all particles in our universe would be different resulting in the familiar features of physics, chemistry, and biology to change. No doubt, such a universe having different physical properties, constants, and laws would make life, as we know it impossible.
The simple fact is that if the Big Bang were rerun with the slightest change in the number, position, or mass of a few particles; a field’s strength; a constant’s value; or for that matter almost any fiddling at all, then the cosmos that unfolded would not include stars, galaxies, the planet Earth, the human species, you, and I.
Considering how absurdly unlikely everything came together spontaneously and with utter perfection in our universe out of a random explosive expansion of the Big Bang, some scientists came up with an alternate explanation for fine-tuning. They postulated “multiverse theory” or the theory that there were multiple universes created in the Big Bang. Our particular universe has the perfect balance of factors because an almost infinite number of universes were formed after various regions condensed or emerged from the “inflation” stage of the Big Bang.
There is nothing inherently wrong with multiverse theory, but it does require the creation of not one but an almost infinite number of universes, and since none of these universes touch or impact one another the hypothesis cannot be tested and shown to be either true or false. Any hypothesis that cannot be tested is considered worthless by science. It mostly serves as an alternate to the simple and straightforward metaphysical explanation for fine-tuning. The universe is simply the product of conscious design. The universe did not originate by random, chaotic processes, but by the careful design of the Cosmic Entity. Consciousness, not matter is the primordial stuff of creation. There is lots of evidence pointing to the truth of this hypothesis of how the universe became what it is today, a most hospitable place for our existence.[2] For now, we should just be very thankful that we have such a hospitable universe and that we as conscious beings sit right in the middle of it at a perfect place and time.
[1] Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose, The Nature of Space and Time
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), 89-90.
[2] For more on this see my earlier blog: “The Tantric Theory of Creation.”