Fine-tuned universe

the proposition that the occurrence of life in the universe is very sensitive to the values of certain fundamental physical constants and that the observed values are, for some reason, improbable

A universe that is fine-tuned is a universe that is designed well-enough to support life. Life as we know it would be impossible if certain things in physics were slightly different.[1][2][3][4] Our universe is fine-tuned for life, and this is seen as not likely.[5] This is because many things have to come together in a certain way. One explanation for this is the anthropic principle. This means that the universe supports life because we wouldn't be here to wonder that if it didn't. This usage of the anthropic principle is tautological. This means that it is true because it is true.

Another explanation for this is the teleological argument.[6] It is also known as argument from design. This means that an intelligent creator created the universe.[7] It is still unknown if the universe created itself or if it was created by someone or something else.[8]

Examples change

Martin Rees had six of these examples.[1][9] Some of these are:

  • When four protons become helium, 0.7% of their mass is changed into energy. If it was 0.6%, only hydrogen could exist. If it was more than 0.8%, no hydrogen would exist because it would have all been fused shortly after the Big Bang. Some other physicists disagree with this.[10]
  • There are 3 dimensions in spacetime. If there were 2 or 4, life could not exist. If there was more than 1 time dimension, life could not exist either.

Related pages change

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 Rees, Martin; Kolb, Edward W. (December 2000). "Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces that Shape the Universe". Physics Today. 53 (12): 67. Bibcode:2000PhT....53l..67R. doi:10.1063/1.1341923. ISSN 0031-9228.
  2. Gribbin, John, 1946- (1989). Cosmic coincidences : dark matter, mankind, and anthropic cosmology. Rees, Martin J., 1942-. New York, NY: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-05730-8. OCLC 19124802.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. Davies, P. C. W. (2007). Cosmic jackpot : why our universe is just right for life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-618-59226-5. OCLC 70775587.
  4. Hawking, Stephen, 1942-2018. A brief history of time : from the big bang to black holes. Sagan, Carl, 1934-1996,, Miller, Ron, 1947-. Toronto. ISBN 0-553-05243-8. OCLC 17105155.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. Oberhelman, David D. (June 2001). "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy2001311Principal Editor, Edward N. Zalta. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford, CA: The Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University 1999; updated every three months. Internet URL: http://plato.stanford.edu, ISSN 1095-5054 Gratis Last visited: May 2001". Reference Reviews. 15 (6): 9. doi:10.1108/rr.2001.15.6.9.311. ISSN 0950-4125.
  6. Evans, C. Stephen (2018-09-20). "The Naïve Teleological Argument". Oxford Scholarship Online. doi:10.1093/oso/9780190842215.003.0007.
  7. Strawson, Galen (2017-10-19). ""From the inside"". Princeton University Press. 1. doi:10.23943/princeton/9780691161006.003.0007.
  8. Lloyd Evans, T. (1979-01-01). "The spectroscopic binary HD 159176". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 186 (1): 13–20. doi:10.1093/mnras/186.1.13. ISSN 0035-8711.
  9. "Why Go Open Access at ECS". Interface Magazine. 23 (4): 30. 2014-01-01. Bibcode:2014ECSIn..23d..30.. doi:10.1149/2.007144if. ISSN 1064-8208.
  10. MacDonald, J.; Mullan, D. J. (2009-08-12). "Big Bang Nucleosynthesis: The Strong Nuclear Force meets the Weak Anthropic Principle". Physical Review D. 80 (4): 043507. arXiv:0904.1807. Bibcode:2009PhRvD..80d3507M. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.80.043507. ISSN 1550-7998. S2CID 119203730.