> God was a hyper-intelligent geek kid in another universe that cooked up
> this mess on what in his society is rigtheous but not terribly
> impressive home computer-ware. Eventually it evolved into this here
> stuff. There certainly is a universe, as long as his machines stay up
> and/or he remembers to keep backups. :-)
> - samantha
The question has been raised as to whether it would be possible to create a
universe in a (well equipped) laboratory.
Such a possibility was investigated by Edward Farhi and Alan G. Guth in
Physics Letters, 183-B, (1987), p. 149, as "An Obstacle to Creating a
Universe in the Laboratory".
They concluded that "to create conditions in a small region of space which
would give rise to a new universe (...) would require an energy density that
is far too high to be provided by any known technology".
Henry Margenau (in "Thomas and the Physics of 1958: A Confrontation",
Marquette U.P., 1958) wrote that the creation of universe from nothing is
possible if the total energy of universe
E = Mc^2 - (k/R)x(GM^2) = 0
(where M = u. total mass, R = u. radius, c = c, G = gravit. const.)
that is to say: if the numerical factor k = 10, and that is, perhaps,
possible.
Actually Thomas (Aquinas) already pointed out (in "Quaestiones Disputatae",
3-6) that "Dicendum, quod tenendum est firmiter, quod Deus potest facere
aliquid ex nihilo et facit" that is "that God can and does make something
from nothing should be steadfastly held".
Others suggested the indeterminacy principle argument, linked to the
relation E = 0, that is to say: can a quantum fluctuation create a universe?
Among these:
- Edward P. Tryon, "Is the Universe a Vacuum Fluctuation", Nature, 246,
(1973), p. 396
- Edward P. Tryon, "What Made the World", New Scientist, 101, (1984), p. 14
- A. Brout, F. Englert, E. Gunzig, "The Creation of the Universe as a
Quantum Phenomenon", Annals of Physics, 115, (1978), p. 78
- D. Atzkin, H. Pagels, "Origin of the Universe as a Quantum Tunneling
Event", Physical Review - D, 25, (1982), p. 2065
- A. Vilenkin, "Creation of Universes from Nothing", Physics Letters, 117 B,
(1982), p. 25.
_________
"What did God do before He made Heaven and Earth? I do not answer as one did
merrily: He was preparing Hell for those that ask such questions. For at no
time had God not made anything because time itself was made by God".
- Saint Augustine, Confessions
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