Is there a good scientific explanation for the big bang?

[captainjack]

i heard somewhere that quantum mechanics or string theory predicts that energy can pop out of nothing and that space can emerge from nothingness. but my question is...how can a little bit of space here or there become so concentrated to the levels of the big bang?

please do point me to a good reliable source for discussion on teh topic...

[shraby]

1. You can probably find info at

<http://www.sciam.com>

Scientific American

[salvorhardin]

2. Watch The Elegant Universe

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html

All three hours are online. It deals with string theory, but might give you a better answer to your question.

Also... There's a good wikipedia article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_bang

[abburdlen]

3. if your within earshot of discussions

about String theory and qauntum mechanics then you'll have no problem with this site.
http://www.umich.edu/~gs265/bigbang.htm

[whistle]

4. Try this link.....Let there be light!

<link> http://perso.club-internet.fr/molaire1/e_bigbang.html

[0rganism]

5. Do keep in mind that the "big bang" is a good explanation for other things

Life on the "human scale" is poor preparation for trying to intuitively understand events on a "cosmic scale" or a "quantum scale", let alone both at once. Whatever doubts you may have about the means by which the pre-cosmos came into existence, it's apparent that the universe is expanding and has a level of background radiation appropos to an event such as a "big bang" at its origins. The "big bang" theory correctly predicts observed distributions of various elements (hydrogen, deuterium, helium, lithium) in a way no other models do.

It is, like much science, incomplete. By its very nature, it may well stay that way for a long time to come.

[papau]

6. No - there is no real theory of creation - just expansion

Banes via multiple universes and zero point energy are the two "out of nothing" attempts - but each has so many problems that it takes more faith than any religion requires to buy into either.

The MIT courses are on line

[Jackpine Radical]

7. Ever read Robert Asprin?