Physics and Buddhism: The Problem of The Beginning

by Ng Xin Zhaoaka The Evolution of Cosmology

Overview

• Kalama Sutta• Problem Statement• Dalai Lama’s reply• Conventional wisdom• Physics Part• Conclusion

Kalama Sutta (AN 3.65)The Buddha named ten specific sources which knowledge should not be immediately viewed as truthful without further investigation to avoid fallacies:•by revelations•by traditions•by rumour, gossip, hearsay•by scriptures, •by logical conjecture,•by it is a point of view, (common sense)•by having considered the reasons, (Philosophical dogmatism)•by agreement through One's own theories•by experts•by the thought, 'This contemplative is our teacher.‘ (Authority)

Kalama Sutta (AN 3.65)When you know for yourselves that,•These qualities are skillful; •these qualities are blameless; •these qualities are praised by the wise; •these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to welfare & to happiness— then you should enter & remain in them.

Problem Statement• From an inconceivable beginning comes

transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on. (SN 15.13)

• There comes a time, Vasettha, when, sooner or later after a long period, this world contracts. ….But sooner or later, after a very long period, this world begins to expand again (DN 27)

• Plus the concept of Kalpas (measure of age of one cycle of universe), infinite Buddhas, dependent co-arising…

• Implies beginningless cyclic universes• Contradicts current Big Bang Theory!

Dalai’s Lama reply• “Even admitting that there was only one grand

cosmic explosion, we can ask if this was the origin of the entire universe or only the commencement of our cosmic system in particular. The fundamental question, therefore, whether the big bang, which, according to modern cosmologists, marks the commencement of our current cosmic system, was the beginning of everything” - The universe in a Single Atom (page 103)

Conventional Wisdom• Analogy by the Buddha in reply to the question: “Is the

cosmos eternal? Etc…” by a monk who threatens to leave the holy life if it is not answered

• A man was shot by a poison arrow• 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the

shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him.

• "In the same way, if anyone were to say, 'I won't live the holy life under the Blessed One as long as he does not declare to me that 'The cosmos is eternal,'... or that 'After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist,' the man would die and those things would still remain undeclared by the Tathagata. (MN 63)

• Don’t ask nonsense questions, just meditate

Unconjecturable (AN 4.77) "There are these four unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them. Which four?1."The Buddha-range of the Buddhas[1] is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.2."The jhana-range of a person in jhana...[2]3."The [precise working out of the] results of kamma...4."Conjecture about [the origin, etc., of] the world is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it."These are the four unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them."

This PresentationBy Kalama Sutta and the conventional wisdom this presentation is a waste of time, but that’s what cosmologists do •It addresses one important question too:

Physics says there is a beginning, the Buddha says there is none, so is Buddhism wrong?

•To inspire people who distrust religion as a whole and trust science generally ...to come and see Buddhism.•To avoid clinging towards any particular viewpoint, be it Physics or Buddhism as in accordance to the Buddha's teachings, by seeing the various changes in the evolution of cosmological model in Physics.

Summary• Buddhist cosmology demands a beginningless,

cyclic universe to be consistent with teachings• Current Cosmology model is the Big Bang

Theory, but with a Singularity that needs quantum gravity theory

• 2 different quantum gravity theories produces 2 different cyclic universes

• Many discussions and verification underway…

Overview (Physics Part)• Quantum & Gravity• From Copernicus, Einstein to

the Big Bang Theory• Problems of The “Beginning" • Inflation• Quantum Gravity theories• Eternal inflation• Cyclic Universes

–Entropy–M-theory, branes

Widely accepted/ recognized in the field

Research frontier and different contending theories

At very small scales, due to Uncertainty Principle, Virtual Particles pair production happens: Quantum Foam

Quantum

Happens •At very small scales•Everywhere•Very fast

General Relativity: Matter curves spacetime, spacetime tells matter how to moveGravity adds up, most important consideration in Cosmological scale

Gravity

Einstein’s Static Universe1

2R g R T 1

2R g R g T

How space-time curves

Mass-energy-stress tensor

Einstein’s equation for General Relativity:

Cosmological Constant, Antigravity

The Universe is expanding!

The Cosmological Constant is my

Greatest Blunder!

Cosmological principle

The Copernican principle can be extended to become the cosmological principleCosmological principle: Viewed on a sufficiently large scale, the properties of the Universe are the same for all observers. (in space)Perfect Cosmological principle: Viewed on a sufficiently large scale, the properties of the Universe are the same for all observers. (in space and time)

• Aka. Infinite Universe theory or continuous creation

• The Universe has always been expanding, matter always created to adhere to perfect cosmological principle

• Has no beginning and no end, the universe looks the same at all times

Steady State Theory

•Universe was denser and therefore different in the past•We know (almost) everything until the Plank time after the supposed singularity•(Conventional) There was a beginning, the end depends on the curvature of the universe

Big Bang Theory

• Forget about which one won in the end,• Which theory would you support if you were a

Buddhist at that era?

Poll

• Discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation favours Big Bang Theory

• The relative abundance of the light elements (H, He) is consistent with the Big Bang nucleosynthesis

• Age of stars not older than the Universe• Evolution of Galaxies

And the Winner is…

• Singularity: point of zero Volume, infinite density, infinite curvature of Spacetime

• Roger Penrose and Stephen Hawking wrote a paper in 1970 proving that the there must have been a big bang singularity provided only that

–General Relativity is correct and –the universe contains as much matter as we

observe

Inevitable Singularity

• Problem: Unpredictability of Singularity, all known physical laws breaks down

• Singularities implies General Relativity breaks down near the “beginning” of the universe

• Quantum effects (science at the very small scale) must be combined: quantum gravity

• What’s before the Big Bang?• General trend of this presentation:

Beginningless universe

The Problem of The “Beginning”

• The Universe expanded exponentially for a short time, solving the:

–Horizon Problem: The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation to be (quite) uniform, but light has no time to travel from one end of the universe to another

–Flatness Problem: Our universe is close to a certain critical density, it must be even closer in the past, why is it so fined tuned?

• Evidence: Fluctuations (due to quantum foam) in the Cosmic Microwave Background

Inflation

Recap• Quantum & Gravity• From Copernicus, Einstein to the

Big Bang Theory• Problems of The “Beginning" • Inflation• Quantum Gravity theories• Eternal inflation• Cyclic Universes

–Entropy–M-theory, branes

Widely accepted/ recognized in the field

Research frontier and different contending theories

• Loop quantum gravity –Space is made of quantized loops–Quantum reformulated in the principles of

General Relativity• String Theory / M-Theory

–Everything is made up of (very small) vibrating strings (Gravity in terms of quantum)

–11 dimensions for M-theory, add in branes (2D or more dimensional object)

–Our universe might be living in a giant 4D brane!

Quantum Gravity Theories

Several models of Cyclic universes,Big Bounce:•The universe experiences Big Crunch and followed by a Big Bounce, endless and beginningless cycles of universes

Cyclic Universes

Possible because of loop quantum gravity

•Entropy (disorder) increases with each bounce, size becomes bigger for each universes:

– there must be a beginning, and •http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9805201: 1998 discovery of accelerated expansion of the Universe implies the end of the universe might not be a Big Crunch

Problems for Cyclic Universes

1

2R g R g T

Cosmological Constant is back! Dark Energy

• If the Universe inflated, what’s stopping some part of it to continue to inflate?

• The universe will inflate forever forward, why not extend this backwards?

• No beginning, no end to the multiverse• http://arxiv.org/abs/1011.3706, http://

arxiv.org/abs/1012.1995: Evidence in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation of collisions with other Universes

Eternal Inflation

• In the Anguttara Nikaya (Vol. II, p. 142; The Fours, No. 156), the Buddha says:

• There are four incalculable epochs, Bhikkhus. The four are:

–the enveloping epoch; –the enveloped epoch; –the developing epoch; –the developed epoch.

• The epoch, Bhikkhus, during which there is cosmic envelopment is not easy to reckon as so many years or centuries, or tens or hundreds of centuries.

More from Buddhism

• Dark energy in the form of phantom energy (w < -1)

• Universe accelerates so fast, Big Rip happens• Just before everything rips apart, there is a

turnaround, for a small piece of space• The Big Bounce that happens afterwards has

entropy reset and low• Possible problem: Each cycle produces more

universes, might there be a primordial universe? Unless there is infinite Universes

The Baum–Frampton model

• Universes exist on branes (infinitely big), two branes collide, causing Big Bang, always expanding, cyclically recurring, no need for inflation.

The Steinhardt–Turok model

•Mithani and Vilenkin argue that the universe could not be past-eternal and must have had a beginning: http://arxiv.org/abs/1204.4658•Susskind replies for all practical purposes, the universe was past-eternal: http://arxiv.org/abs/1204.5385 (Both 2012)

Ongoing Discussions

• Cosmology is getting more and more active• Experimental/Observational predictions by

models are to be tested –Scanning the Cosmic Microwave Background–LHC detecting extra dimensions gravity leak into

• What’s the real motivation? To get rid of singularity or the beginning?

• The real motivation in Buddhist point of view: Beginningless Cyclic Universe

Conclusion? (for Physics)

The Baum–Frampton model•Universe accelerates so fast, Big Rip happens•Just before everything rips apart, there is a turnaround, for a small piece of space•The Big Bounce that happens afterwards has entropy reset and low

Who knows what’s the next top model?

Only Consistent Model So Far…

• "Conjecture about [the origin, etc., of] the world is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.

• Impermanence of views• Yet, we are getting closer and closer to the

truth: practice so that we are closer and closer to Nibbana

Reflection

Summary• Buddhist cosmology demands a beginningless,

cyclic universe to be consistent with teachings• Current Cosmology model is the Big Bang

Theory, but with a Singularity that needs quantum gravity theory

• 2 different quantum gravity theory produces 2 different cyclic universes

• Many discussions and verification underway…• Meanwhile drop all these and pull out the

arrow!

Shut Up and Meditate!

References & Pictures sources• Wikipedia, google, etc…• http://obviousmag.org/en/archives/2011/01/albert_einsteins_brain.html• http://astronomylinks.wikispaces.com/Edwin+Hubble• http://www.learner.org/courses/mathilluminated/units/13/textbook/03.php• http://people.physics.carleton.ca/~watson/Physics/NSCI1000/Pseudo-science/Copernicus_vs_Ptolemy.html• http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/eduoff/cas/cas2002/cas-projects/austria_milky_1/image013.gif• http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/c/centre_of_the_universe.asp• http://magnum.anu.edu.au/~TDFgg/• http://www.trillek.net/blog/2012/4/21/article-why-remote-galaxies-are-lost-to-red-shift.html• http://ecoki.com/ngc-3603-and-rmc-136a/• http://beckyblack.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/writing-to-get-off-the-b-ark/restaurant-at-the-end-of-the-universe/• http://www.physicsoftheuniverse.com/topics_bigbang_timeline.html• http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/media/080997/index.html• http://astronomyonline.org/aoblog/aoblog55.asp• http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/astro/imgast/ndecay.gif• http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/wp-content/blogs.dir/311/files/2012/04/i-b38c5bc027e5c0714e163f890e795fd6-PowerSpectrum512.png• http://www.sflorg.com/spacenews/images/imsn092106_01_05.jpg• A Brief History of Time-Hawking• http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e43gaTXnl1c/TWJVjGYk3UI/AAAAAAAAB7U/cSXZopLVZA4/s1600/CMB_Timeline75c.jpg• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Horizon_problem.png• http://homepages.iitb.ac.in/~yajnik/publects/wdriv_pictorial/flatness.gif• http://universe-review.ca/I02-21-multiverse4.jpg• http://www.onset.unsw.edu.au/issue7/mutiuniverse.bmp• http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/files/49771/Eternal%2520inflation.png• http://www.world-mysteries.com/mcdonald_origins.htm• http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/archive/2686/26861501.jpg• http://www.zamandayolculuk.com/cetinbal/09/1Quantumfoam.jpg• http://files.myopera.com/easteinstein/blog/Agravedad_640_Gravity.jpg• http://www.cpt.univ-mrs.fr/~quantumgravity/loop_quantum_gravity_2.jpg• http://skepticalteacher.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/string-theory.jpg• http://www.dailygalaxy.com/.a/6a00d8341bf7f753ef0133f574e52f970b-500wi• http://www.chem1.com/acad/webtext/thermeq/TE-images/entropy_not.png• http://www.aip.org/png/images/bigrip.jpg• http://www.treeincarnation.com/branes2.htm• http://what-buddha-said.net/gallery/var/albums/Graphics-%26-Comics/believe-nothing.kalama.sutta.jpg?m=1330775849• http://astrobites.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Dalai.jpg• http://www.findingtruthmatters.org/ebooks/5%20Proofs%20For%20God-eBook.pdf• http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Images/feynman-richard-quantum-1.jpg

Question & Answers

So what if there was a beginning after all? Would Buddhism demand for multiverse to exist?We had seen 3 types of Multiverse in the slides:1.Inflationary Multiverse2.Cyclic Multiverse3.Brane MultiverseThere are 6 more different Multiverse according to The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene, how does each of these affect the Buddhist cosmology and Philosophy?

Up next? Physics and Buddhism: Multiverses