We explain what the steady state theory is, the perfect cosmological principle and the evidence that seems to refute it.
What is steady state theory?
It is known as Steady State Theory, Theory of the Stationary Universe or Model of the Stationary Universe. a theory about the origin of the universe, proposed in the mid-20th century by the British physicist and astronomer James Jeans.
The fundamental precept of this theory is that the decrease in density that the Universe experiences in its constant expansion is complemented by the constant creation of new matter at an almost imperceptible rate (one proton per year for every km3 of universe).
This means that the universe has constant general properties, invariant in time and space, so its origin tends to infinity in the past, with an exponential expansion rate. That is to say, this theory maintains that the Universe never had an origin, but always was as it is today.
This formulation arises from the so-called Perfect Cosmological Principle: maintains that given a large enough scale, the Universe always presents the same properties no matter from what point or what specific portion we observe. And, also, from the application of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity.
After being proposed by James Jeans was reviewed in 1948 by specialists Fred Hoyle (United Kingdom), Thomas Gold (Austria) and Hermann-Bondi (Austro-British), among others. Today it is not considered a current physical model but part of the history of modern cosmology.
See also: Quantum mechanics
Importance of theory
This cosmological model It is the main alternative theory to the Big Bang Theory which assumes that at some initial moment, the Universe was a single particle in which everything that exists was compressed, and that everything began with a gigantic explosion that drove the expansion of space-time.
Although the stationary model was not without its supporters at the time, and Even Albert Einstein himself subscribed to it at the time today it is considered discarded. This is because the best observations of the distant universe show that it is a place in the process of change. For example, there are only quasars in remote regions.
In fact, discoveries about the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which in 1964 was detected and dated to about 13.7 billion years old, seem to prove the existence of an initial explosion.
Authors of the theory of the stationary universe
There are still scientists who hold the Stationary Universe Model as valid and oppose the Big Bang Theory. Chief among them is Jayant Narlikar (India, 1938), who is one of the most prominent astrophysicists in his country (and also a popular author of popular science fiction).
Another of his supporters is C. Johan Masreliez (Sweden, 1939), theoretical physicist and inventor who contributed significantly to the emergence of Control Theory in the 1970s. His theories on the matter are set out in his text Cosmic expansion on scale (1999).
For his part, the Australian scientist David Crawford presented in 2010 some supporting theories of the stationary model. His theories, along with those of Masreliez, are widely criticized, especially for assuming that the reddening of the light from distant stars is due to a supposed “tired light” rather than light coming from a receding object.
There are other names worth highlighting, such as the theoretical physicist Roger Penrose (England, 1931), who interpreted certain circular patterns in the Cosmic Microwave Background as evidence that there was no Big Bang, but that the Universe is immersed in a continuous circuit over the eons.
References
- “Steady state theory” on Wikipedia.
- “Theories of the origin of the universe, Chapter 3: The steady state theory” (video) in Knowing the universe.
- “Theory of the Stationary Universe” on Astrojem.com.
- “What is the Steady State Theory? What does Steady State Theory mean?” (video) in Audiopedia.
- “Steady-state Theory” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
