Martin Bojowald
Once Before Time
Once Before Time explores questions about the nature of time and space, and whether or not they have a definite beginning.
Developments in physical theories (General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and attempts to combine them) have indicated that there is a deep connection between the history of the universe and the basic, microscopic nature of space and time, between the largest and the smallest scales.
In this book, I provide an exposition of Loop Quantum Cosmology, a detailed framework that has highlighted this connection, and its supporting arguments. Readers will be stimulated to fathom an unexpected link—the interplay between the big bang’s discrete atoms of space and the fundamentals of space and time.
The common myth of the big bang as the beginning of the universe and of time is based upon an illegitimate extrapolation of an incomplete theory.
The expansion of the universe out of an extremely dense state is supported by General Relativity, but a prehistory of the universe is not accessible unless quantum physics is considered, too. Reconciling General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics is a formidable challenge. It is considered the “holy grail” of contemporary cosmology. This problem keeps a large fraction of theoretical physicists occupied. And while a comprehensive theory of the universe is not yet available; this book attempts to provide an abbreviated snapshot of the endeavor’s current status.
Illustration of a model universe, spiraling out of nothingness (the so-called “State of Hell” of Loop Quantum Gravity) and then rapidly expanding to the right. The figure overlays states of the early universe at all times, characterized by its extension (vertical axis) and expansion rate (horizontal axis). Brighter colors correspond to states occupied more often. (Martin Bojowald)
Editor: Erind Pajo
Once Before Time
Martin Bojowald Once Before Time: A Whole Story of the Universe Alfred A. Knopf 320 pages, 6¼ x 9¼ inches ISBN 978 0307272850
Available here →March 9, 2011
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Martin Bojowald
Martin Bojowald is an Associate Professor of Physics at the Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. in 2000, for work that founded the field of Loop Quantum Cosmology, and has received several awards and distinctions for his research, teaching and service to the science community. Once Before Time, featured in his Rorotoko interview, is based on a book he published in Germany in 2009, which became a bestseller.
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The universe has a prehistory before the big bang, and traces of it may show in the distribution of galaxies.
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