Sep 18, 2007
Hoyle's Conclusion
Three challenges for cosmology.
Hoyle, Burbidge and Narlikar published a book in 2002
against the big bang. Unfortunately, the
Quasi-Steady-State-Cosmology (QSSC), which they propose as
an alternative, is based on the same faulty assumption as
the big bang--that redshift can be used as a measure of
distance. They devote one section of their book to quasars
as the exception to that rule. This section covers the
observational evidence that quasars are found together with
active galaxies in spite of their redshift incompatibility.
The last chapter
of the book is most fascinating to a pioneering astronomer.
Here they discuss three major issues that standard cosmology
has never explained quantitatively. In simpler words, the
math doesn't match what the observations demand. The first
problem is angular momentum. Everything in space seems to
spin, although it's not clear why. But some objects, like
our Sun, don't spin as fast as they should. And other
objects, like the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn, spin too
fast.
The second
problem is magnetic fields. They are found almost
everywhere, but standard theory doesn't understand what
makes them. Plasma cosmologist Alfvén explains that the
problem is with astronomers' shortsightedness. Magnetic
fields are never found without electric currents. Even the
fields of bar magnets are created by currents within their
atomic structure. So as long as astronomers refuse to accept
the existence of electric currents in space, they will never
understand the origins of the magnetic fields they see.
The third
problem is quantized redshift. Not only QSOs but also low-redshift
galaxies display a preference for certain values of redshift.
This throws a monkey wrench into both the big bang theory
and Hoyle¹s QSSC, although big bang theorists try to moot
the question by declaring it to be the "surprising new
structure" of unobservable dark matter.
The authors ended this chapter and the book with good advice
for all: "... we have described in outline a number of
observed phenomena whose origins we do not understand either
within the framework of big-bang cosmology or within the
framework of the QSSC. The universe is an immensely
complicated place. There is good reason to start with simple
models, but there is no excuse for ignoring observations
which do not apparently fit into a picture which is largely
based on some well accepted results, but also a number of
preconceived ideas.
"If nothing
else, we hope that we have made both theorists and observers
aware that observations remain primary in this field."
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