Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Limpus
Yes the balance between the four forces result in the universe we observe.
The cosmological constant was cooked up by Einstein because his calculations predicted the universe must expand or contract, but he didn't trust them - he favoured a static eternal universe. The constant was a correction of sorts to counteract the predicted expansion or contraction. When Hubble showed the universe was expanding, Einstein quietly erased the cosmological constant.
But then, the expansion was observed to be accelerating. Welcome back cosmological constant. I don't think scientists have a good handle on what it is, but I've often seen references to a kind of 'vacuum energy' of space, or perhaps it is a vestige of the force that drove inflation. There seems to be some consensus the rate of acceleration varies over time.
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Yes i have read about Einstein's cosmological constant and how it may now be regarded to be of possible importance. The acceleration of the expanding universe ( faster the further we look ) seems to be in much debate! i struggle with the notion of the measurements used to prove this idea to be correct the red shift measured in distant galaxies seems to conclude that this acceleration does exist, although reading through this forum alone there is much debate about this as a way of determining the expansion of the universe. I have also heard about vaccum energy, this idea seems to fit nicely to the current observations made but again has no hard evidence to back it up. Going back to the original question about the shape of the universe, the simple idea i proposed was that the energy/matter determined the size and shape of the detecable unviverse but that this universe could be expanding into a space which has no definate shape, size or substance conceivable to us (hence the apperance of an infinite empty void). using the analogy of us existing on or in an expanding bubble. the space between galaxies appears to be getting larger with time but with force of gravity the space inside galaxies remains relavtively constant. I guess if you consider space to be expanding then you must also consider space to be a fabric of some sorts rather than nothing as i suggested earlier.