From: mike99 (mike99@lascruces.com)
Date: Fri Apr 18 2003 - 14:16:48 MDT
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-sl4@sl4.org [mailto:owner-sl4@sl4.org]On Behalf Of Perry E.
> Metzger
...
> The visible universe is 42 billion light years in radius, even though
> the age of the universe is only 13.7 billion light years (to within
> 1%, according to the WMAP data). This, apparently, because of the
> expansion of the universe. I don't pretend to understand how the
> universe could have expanded such that two points separated at a rate
> greater than c -- perhaps someone with a physics background could
> explain about this.
The currently favored explanation for this is Alan Guth's theory of cosmic
inflation, whereby space itself expanded very rapidly (i.e., faster than
light speed) in the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang.
Guth discusses his theory with cosmologist Lee Smolin at
http://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/y-Ch.16.html
Michael LaTorra
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