Problems in Cosmology
We propose a solution to the horizon problem based on Einstein's insight that in the
wave-function collapse something is "traveling" faster than the speed of light. That something is
information about
possibilities. When the universal wave function
Ψ collapsed at
t = 0, parts of the universe that are outside our current light horizon were "informed" that it is time to start. It is also consistent with
Richard Feynman's path integral (or "sum-over-histories") formulation of quantum mechanics.
The universe is very likely flat because it was created from an empty universe, which is also flat. A flat universe starts with minimal
information. Leibniz' question, "Why is there something rather than nothing?" is simply answered if the universe is made out of something and the equal opposite of that something.
Given our assumption that the universe is exactly flat, the missing mass problem is that there is not enough observable material so that in Newtonian cosmology the gravitational binding energy can exactly balance the kinetic energy. The visible (luminous mass) accounts for only about 4-5 percent of the needed mass. Studying the rotation curves of galaxies and galaxy clusters reveals an invisible mass (called
dark matter) contained inside the galaxies and clusters that amounts to perhaps 6 times the visible matter, which accounts for about 30 percent of the critical mass density needed to make the universe exactly flat. Current theory accounts for the balance by
dark energy or the
cosmological constant. But the missing mass could just be more dark matter between the galaxies and clusters, about 3 times their visible and dark matter.
This material can close the universe and explain its flatness. But it would not explain the apparent expansion acceleration seen in Type 1a supernovae, a probable artifact of the assumption they are perfect "standard candles."
Recent evidence suggests that the distant Type 1a supernovae are in a different population than those nearby.
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