Ask A Genius 1265: A Stretchy Universe
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/02/15
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: If you were to take the collective energy and matter of the universe and condense it into the head of a pen, how much energy would that be? By “universe,” the observable universe, to be straightforward. We’re considering the standard Big Bang theory instead of informational cosmology since space would be rescaled under the latter.
Rick Rosner: Under Big Bang cosmology, the universe did not expand from a tiny blip; it expanded everywhere. As long as the energy in the universe was uniform, no single point would collapse into a black hole because gravitational pulls would cancel out. There’s a Machian assumption at work, perhaps even built into general relativistic equations. Mach’s principle posits that inertia is relative to the stellar background, which hasn’t been conclusively proven. Yet, it makes sense that a body in motion remains in motion.
What is it moving against? It must be moving against something substantial. That something comprises all the stars, galaxies, and universe. General relativity may inherently assume that an object must be denser than its surroundings for gravitational collapse. In other words, a clump of matter can only collapse if it is denser than the background universe. Moreover, the equations of general relativity incorporate a coefficient of expansion. This coefficient is what Einstein introduced to maintain a steady universe, neither expanding nor contracting. Thus, gravitational collapse depends on the relative density compared to the cosmic background.
You can add an energy metric to the universe, acting as an antigravity propulsive force that expands space. It is stronger than the mutual gravitational attraction of all the matter and energy contained within it. This argument is somewhat circular, asserting that the early Big Bang universe did not collapse because it possessed a springiness endowed with more energy than gravity. However, this explanation is not entirely satisfying. The early universe did not collapse because it expanded rapidly at an incredibly fast rate immediately after the Big Bang. This rapid expansion counteracted the gravitational pull of the matter present by essentially stretching space and preventing collapse into a single point. Space was sufficiently “stretchy” to outpace gravitational contraction. Although this reasoning may appear ad hoc, it explains the observed expansion well.
If gravitation is a manifestation of the interactions among particles within space, and if matter defines the scale and structure of space along with gravity, then one cannot compress the entire universe into a pinhead. The presence of matter ensures that space is continually rescaled unless that matter is stripped of its information content. In such a scenario, informational pressure compels matter devoid of information to reconfigure itself into arrangements that restore complexity.
This reconfiguration naturally unfolds over time as matter evolves to produce new information. This process partially explains why a collapsed universe would exhibit significant springiness. When matter is drawn into a black hole, it loses its information. It becomes degenerate—a condensed state of nearly identical, overlapping, neutron-like particles with minimal informational diversity. As interactions occur within this degenerate matter, structure begins to emerge. Over time, this reconfiguration gives rise to the complex arrangements observed in our universe.
But as interactions occur within that degenerate state and new structure begins to precipitate, the resulting condition resembles an indeterminate, springy “soup” reminiscent of the Big Bang. Initially containing little information, this primordial soup eventually gives rise to specific configurations of space, time, and matter that are rich in complexity. Information generation allows events to be sequenced along a timeline, providing a coherent narrative of cosmic evolution. In this view, space and time represent the most efficient associations that enable cause and effect.
Time, fundamentally, is the ordering of cause and effect and prevents everything from happening simultaneously. Although this explanation may seem imprecise, it underscores that cause and effect inherently require a temporal framework. Without time, the concepts of “first cause” and subsequent effects would be meaningless.
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