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The Ekpyrotic Theory

The Ekpyrotic Universe is simply the Big Bang Theory, with some slight variations.  It tries to explain the beginning of the Big Bang, as many feel the beginning does not make much sense.  What sparked the Big Bang?  Why did the 'cosmic egg' explode?  Well, in the Ekpyrotic Universe, instead of starting as a superheated egg, the Universe begins as cold and empty and vacuous.  Supposedly, the Universe we know came from a gigantic collision between different dimensions.  The Ekpyrotic theory article attempted to explain how these dimensions collided and expanded into today's Universe, but did not succeed too well.  I'd say the biggest flaw in the theory was that i couldn't even understand it!  I read the article several times over, and still barely managed to grasp the concept of the overlapping dimensions.  Also, what caused these dimensions to overlap in the first place?  The next biggest flaw, of course, is that no one was there to witness the birth of the Ekpyrotic Universe.

The Big Twang

The Big Twang Theory article intends to dispute the Big Bang Theory whilst pushing forward the Big Twang Theory.  The Big Twang theory states that the Universe was born from 'music', or a vibration that sparked the creation of multiple dimensions.  Though it is a pretty thought, it makes little to no sense.  What would have caused this vibration?  The theory was created by a music lover, so he had a bias towards music already.  His concluding sentence, "Plus, Big Twang Theory justifies all the time I spend playing guitar." (3) really got under my skin.  I might have enjoyed the article more if he hadn't tried to justify his love of guitar with the creation of the Universe.  One issue with the theory is that we have no idea what created the 'Big Twang'.  I would like this theory, because is a nice image, but it just doesn't fit.

The Big Crunch Theory

The Big Crunch theory is a 'death and rebirth' theory that shoots off from the Big Bang Theory.  In the Big Crunch, our Universe moves in a cycle of sorts.  The cycle begins with The Big Bang(a superheated, superdense egg expanding to over a billion times its original size), and ending with the Big Crunch, which is the Universe expanding so much that, like a rubber band, it snaps back an gets small again.  How exactly is this a cycle?  The Big Bang and the Big Crunch repeat constantly, shrinking and expanding an infinite number of times.  There is not much evidence to dispute this theory, apart from the fat that we are assuming there would be enough gravity to pull the Universe back int that teeny tiny ball.

Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory is the most widely supported theory of the Universe's birth.  The BBT states that the Universe was once a 'Cosmic Egg' that suddenly exploded and expanded to create the Universe that we know today!  The cosmic egg was superheated and super-dense, so it was basically just a pressure cooker waiting to explode.  The Universe, according to this theory, is and always will be continually expanding.  One problem with the BBT, which is also existent in any other theory, is that no one who is alive right now was actually there to see the beginning of the Universe, so we will never be able to be 100% sure about the BBT.  Some arguments for the BBT are that 'In a big bang, the expansion rate would slow; in a steady sate universe it would remain constant. Also, Observations reported in 1948 purported to find that more distant galaxies were indeed older." However, this theory violates laws such as the first law of thermodynamics and the law of entropy.  Of course, laws can always be broken, and nothing is 100% for sure, so I don't really feel that these are big deals.