Expert: Courtney Seligman - 7/4/2010

Question
Dear Courtney,

I time, space and the primordial atom are frequent topics but I am unable to answer a specific question. I have no formal background in physics so I hope the question makes sense.

Our universe is expanding (and this expansion is increasing) and time and space, we know, exist within this expansion.

It is often stated that time and space were not present when the primordial atom existed. When reading, the non-existence of time and space has always been associated with the nothingness outside of the primordial atom. The primordial atom itself must have had mass and energy (indicative of space) and internal processes (indicative of time).

Given that at the time of the primordial atom the expanse of the universe was the primordial atom itself, could time and space have existed within the primordial atom?

Is there any law/data that discounts the possibility that time and space existed within the primordial atom?  

I hope this makes sense and is not an absurd question.

Thanks a lot,

Bernie

Answer
I understand what you mean, but you are assuming that the Universe existed as a specific point-mass (your "primordial atom"), at or before the so-called Big Bang. Current theories of the Big Bang assume that it originated from nothing at all (this is sometimes referred to as "the ultimate free lunch"), so at time zero, not only was there no space, but also no mass, energy, or anything else.

In an instant too small to imagine, which is about a millionth of a millionth of a millionth of a millionth of a millionth of a millionth of a millionth of a second, a quantum fluctuation occurred which created a nearly infinite amount of energy, in a form which we cannot imagine or study with current technology. In that instant, the size of the space associated with this fluctuation increased from zero to an infinitely larger size. This is referred to as the Inflationary stage of the Big Bang. Predictions can be made of the current and past appearance of the Universe based on this theory, and what we see agrees with the predictions, so this theory of the creation of the Universe from a single point of totally empty space-time is the accepted one, and theories based on pre-existing objects, such as a "primordial atom", have been rejected.

This does not mean that your idea is absurd. Over time, new observations may slightly change our current views, or even force us to abandon them. So although the primordial atom view is currently viewed as wrong, there may be a time when something similar to that is considered at least a possibility.

If you would like to read more about the quantum fluctuation theory of the Universe, you might take a look at my webpage, "In The Beginning", at http://cseligman.com/text/prologue.htm