dwc@hou2b.UUCP (D.CHEN) (12/02/84)
warning: the following is speculation on my part. its been a long time since my undergraduate quantum physics but it gave me a lasting respect for the unknowability of certain aspects of reality. (delta E) * (delta t) = planck's constant is an example of this unknowability. the physical laws that we use to describe this reality have their basis in our abilities to observe physical phenomena. if for example our physical laws are based on our ability of observe phenomena that last at least (delta t) units of time, then there can be events that will "violate" those physical laws but they occur so briefly that we may never directly observe them. also since the physical laws we use to describe nature are based on observation, they are really statistical in nature. that is, based on observation, the physical laws are very high confidence statements about what is very likely to happen in certain situations. take for example, the "physical law" that "nature abhorrs a vacuum". we depend on that law to keep all the air on one side of the room from being sucked into the other side of the room while we stand around chatting (i read this example somewhere, i can't remember where). however, there is a finite chance of that event happening. its just that the non-vacuum case and states close to it represent all of the likely situations. all of this is to lead to the big bang theory and the idea that a universe can be created from a massive singularity. if the gravitational field from that singularity represents a finite potential well (not really a singularity then?) then there is a non-zero probability that a particle of low kinetic energy will escape from that well. of course, you need alot of particles to produce a big bang but again there is a finite probability of that occurring. there may have been lots of little bangs before the big one and i don't know if the evidence says that there was definitely one big bang or there could possibly have been a bunch of medium bangs but given an infinite amount of "time" it was bound to happen. "given up on explaining nature and trying to explain myself" danny chen