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The Question
(Submitted October 01, 2003)
Scientists mention the Big Bang theory often, and i have clearly read about
the subject many times, but no one seems to say what the beginning REALLY
was. They always say that when the Big Bang occurred, is when time started.
But surly there must have been a 'time before the big bang'...What I mean is,
where did the matter and energy come from before the explosion occurred? How
DID something (matter and energy) come from nothing? I don't see how something
can just be without something to create it. What is the TRUE beginning? I
understand if you don't have all the answers. but please try and give me
your point of view.
The Answer
One thing to remember is that the way it appears our universe works,
there is no way for information from any past universe to get to
us. Also, if our universe were to collapse into a big crunch, which
seems pretty unlikely with what we know presently, any information in
this universe would be destroyed, and no information would be
transmitted into the next universe.
So, as far as anything we can know, the universe started with a big
bang (or rapid expansion from a very hot dense state) about 13.7
billion years ago.
Hope this helps,
Michael Arida for Ask a High-Energy Astronomer
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