Researchers propose new twist on the Big Bang

by Colin Hunter, Perimeter Institute and Victoria Van Cappellen, Science Communications.

Three University of Waterloo astrophysicists have a new idea about what might have come before the Big Bang. It’s a bit perplexing, but it’s grounded in sound mathematics, testable, and enticing enough to earn the cover story “The Black Hole at the Beginning of Time” in the popular magazine Scientific American.

Scientific American features in-depth articles explaining the latest scientific findings to science enthusiasts, usually written by scientists themselves. Famous contributors include Albert Einstein, Linus Pauling and J. Robert Oppenheimer.

In this month’s issue, Assistant Professor Niayesh Afshordi, Professor Robert Mann, and PhD candidate Razieh Pourhasan from Waterloo’s Department of Physics and Astronomy argue that what we perceive as the Big Bang could be the three-dimensional “mirage” of a collapsing star in a universe profoundly different than our own.

“Cosmology’s greatest challenge is understanding the Big Bang itself,” they write.

Conventional understanding holds that the Big Bang began with a singularity – an unfathomably dense phenomenon of spacetime where the standard laws of physics break down.

The problem, as the authors see it, is that the Big Bang hypothesis has our relatively uniform and predictable universe arising from the unlikely physics-destroying insanity of a singularity.

They postulate instead that our three dimensional universe emerged when a star in a four-dimensional universe collapsed into a black hole; the black hole’s event horizon shields us its singularity. Our universe originated as – and remains – just one feature in the imploded wreck of a four-dimensional star.

The researchers emphasize that this idea, though it may sound absurd, is firmly grounded in the mathematics describing space and time. Their model appears to address long-standing cosmological puzzles, and – crucially – produce testable predictions.  

Of course, our intuition tends to recoil at the idea that everything we know emerged from the event horizon of a four-dimensional black hole. But our fallible human intuitions, the researchers argue, evolved in a three-dimensional world that may only reveal shadows of reality.

Niayesh Afshordi is also an Associate Faculty member of Perimeter Institute and Robert Mann is an Affiliate member. Razieh Pourhasan is cross enrolled in Perimeter Institute’s PhD program.

The original peer-reviewed article entitled, “Out of the White Hole: A Holographic Origin for the Big Bang” appeared in the April issue of the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.

To learn more, read this month’s issue of Scientific American and visit Waterloo’s homepage.

Graphic by Gabriela Secara, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

 

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Celebrating cultural diversity on and off campus

This is the latest in a series of #UWCommunity weekly features that highlight Waterloo in the community.

Our campus is made up of incredible cultural diversity.  Our students, faculty and staff come from all across the globe to learn, teach, research and contribute to the University of Waterloo and to our community.

In 2013, the University of Waterloo became a member of the community’s Immigration Partnership Council.  Facilitated by the Region of Waterloo, the Immigration Partnership brings together organizations representing settlement, health, community, social services, business, employment and education partners.  The work is founded on the belief that, by working together, we enhance our collective potential for positive impact to support the successful settlement and integration of immigrants locally. By sitting on the Council, the University demonstrates that, as a community leader, we are part of understanding and responding to a significant social issue for our region.

Through this partnership, the University contributed to the development of the Community Action Plan.  The plan highlights three key areas:  settle, work and belong; each area has important implications for our campus (click the image for a larger version). 

There are over 100 organizations and community members engaged in the Immigration Partnership.  Alongside Wilfrid Laurier University and Conestoga College, Waterloo contributes significantly to dialogue on how international students can be welcomed into the Waterloo community during their time as students.  We also explore ways that the community at large can appreciate the diversity that our international students brings to Waterloo Region.  Finally, we seek to make better connections between the services and resources that are available to Waterloo students, faculty, and staff who are settling not just to our campus but to their new home in Waterloo Region.  For more information about cultural diversity in Waterloo Region, including events and resources, visit the Waterloo Region immigration website.

 

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Conference examines science, tech, gender

An interdisciplinary conference on the intersection of science, technology, and gender issues will be held on campus next week.

Science, Technology, and Gender: Challenges and Opportunities is being hosted by Waterloo's Science and Technology in Society along with the Association for Feminist Epistemologies, Methodologies, Metaphysics, and Science Studies (FEMMSS) and the Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy (CSWIP) at the University of Waterloo and will run from Sunday, August 10 to Wednesday, August 13.

“Justice and gender equity in scientific and technological sectors can drive innovation,” says Carla Fehr, a professor of Philosophy who is convening the conference. “Equity stimulates creative and rigorous research and development which meets the needs of a wider cross section of Canadian and global citizens. So it’s essential that we get together to explore ways in which we can promote equity in these traditionally white, male-dominated industries.”

Professor Fehr, who also holds the Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy at the University says the conference will be important to a range of people, including educators who want to create classroom environments in which everyone has a strong chance success, industry players who want to improve recruitment and retention of women or members of minority groups, policy makers who want to see a strong and diverse workforce in science and engineering, and anyone who is interested in making our culture and institutions more equitable.

The conference's program consists of plenary sessions divided into tracks including Feminist Thinking Across the Disciplines, Her Science, Her Technology, and Education, Policy & Practice, as well as meetings for the CSWIP and FEMMSS, and a special Waterloo session entitled "Individual and Institutional Approaches to Equity in Science and Engineering: There And Back Again" featuring talks from three Waterloo speakers:

• Christine Logel, "Reducing Stereotype Threat: It's Not Magic (It's Science)";
• Hilary Bergsieker, "Attending to Race & Improving Intergroup Relations"; and
• Mahajabeen Ebrahim, "Achieving Equity in the Academy: Keeping Hope Alive".

The Wednesday afternoon event, which is the final plenary session for the conference, will be held at 2:30 p.m. in HH 1101 and is free and open to the public.

 

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