The Fine Tuned Universe Flashcards
What is Fine Tuned Universe
the conditions that allow life in the universe can only arise when certain universal fundamental physical constants are within a very specific range
with any slight change, there might not be any development of matter, astronomical structures and elemental diversity or life as we know
Elements Essential to Life
Carbon ( C )
Oxygen ( O )
Hydrogen ( H )
Nitrogen ( N )
Arguments of Fine Tuned Universe
Diproton Disaster
Fine-Tuned Carbon Energy State
The Fine-Tuned Fine Structure Constant
Fine Tuned Dark Energy and Gravity
Fine Tuned Density Fluctuation
Fine Tuned Mass of Higgs Boson
Diproton Disaster
If strong nuclear force were 2% stronger, free protons would prefer to form stable di-protons instead of hydrogen right after the Big Bang
Hydrogen will quickly burn out in the very beginning of the Big Bang
No hydrogen left for the fusion to power the star or to form water
Fine-Tuned Carbon Energy State
Insufficient carbon would exist to support life
Must be between 7.596 - 7.716 MeV of carbon in the universe
The Fine-Tuned Fine Structure Constant
is a constant
characterizes the strength of electromagnetic interactions between elementary charged particles
determines the value of the elementary charge e
Fine Tuned Dark Energy and Gravity
Ratio of dark energy density/critical density of the Universe
- Fine tuned to 122 decimal points
- If not that small, expansion is too fast, no stars and astronomical structures can form
Ratio of gravity/dark energy of the Universe,
- Too strong gravity = the Universe collapse before life formed
- Too weak = expansion is too fast, no star will form
Fine Tuned Density Fluctuation
The CMB temperature is the same in all directions: isotropy while the temperature fluctuation is one part in 100,000
Too much = matter density fluctuation will form black holes straight instead of large scale structures/galaxies/stars
Not enough = there will be no large scale structures, stars or galaxies
Fine Tuned Mass of Higgs Boson
Higgs bosons give mass to all particles
Meta-stability means it is around for long time but not always
Earth could collapse into a black hole if there is a slight deviation of the mass of Higgs Bosons
proposed answers to the fine-tuning problem
The God
Purely Coincidence
Alien-made intelligence life?
Anthropic Principle
Multiverse
Anthropic Principle
Observation of the universe must be compatible with the
life forms that observe it.
- If the universe is not “fine tuned” for us, we won’t be there to observe it
- The universe appears to us to be “fine-tuned” as this is the only one we know
- Are there other kinds of universe that are “less tuned” for us
Multiverse
Existence of multiple (parallel) Universe with different physical constants
Some allows existence of life
No observational evidences yet
Top-down
by Hawking and Hertog
One universe with many possible beginnings
- The majority withered away
Only a small fraction contributed to the condition we see today
- Current Universe “selects” to see only those past histories that leads to present states
