Thanks to Charles Seife, I understand the following:
"Actually, the term infinite actually refers to the extent of space. The initial singularity of the big bang can actually create an infinite chunk of spacetime -- in some scenarios, the singularity is mathematically equivalent to an event which happens everywhere on a pre-existing infinite sheet."
Putting aside the multiverse for a moment, some clarification may be necessary re. the term "infinite" used for this one. Given that the big bang was the beginning of time and space as well as matter and energy, and that space has been expanding at a finite rate, then doesn't the term "infinite" refer only to the mathematical curvature (open)? The size of space itself must be some 40B light-years (more that ~13B light years since the space is expanding). Please clarify. Thanks.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks to Charles Seife, I understand the following: "Actually, the term infinite actually refers to the extent of space. The initial singularity of the big bang can actually create an infinite chunk of spacetime -- in some scenarios, the singularity is mathematically equivalent to an event which happens everywhere on a pre-existing infinite sheet."
Putting aside the multiverse for a moment, some clarification may be necessary re. the term "infinite" used for this one. Given that the big bang was the beginning of time and space as well as matter and energy, and that space has been expanding at a finite rate, then doesn't the term "infinite" refer only to the mathematical curvature (open)? The size of space itself must be some 40B light-years (more that ~13B light years since the space is expanding). Please clarify. Thanks.