The initial cosmological singularity in the framework of the general theory of relativity is resolved by introducing the effect of the uncertainty principle of quantum theory without violating conventional laws of physics. A plausible account of the mechanism of the big bang, analogous to that of a nuclear explosion, is given and the currently accepted Planck temperature of ∼ 10 32 K at the beg...

This paper is part of a program whose aim is to establish a new paradigm for the universe in which there is no big bang. There are three pieces of primary evidence for the big bang: the distribution of light elements, the cosmic microwave background, and redshift. This paper concentrates on redshift. Alternative explanations for the other pieces of primary evidence are given in other papers in ...

We analyse numerically the onset of pre-big bang inflation in an inhomogeneous, spherically symmetric Universe. Adding a small dilatonic perturbation to a trivial (Milne) background, we find that suitable regions of space undergo dilaton-driven inflation and quickly become spatially flat (Ω → 1). Numerical calculations are pushed close enough to the big bang singularity to allow cross checks ag...

Standard big bang nucleosynthesis (SBBN) has been remarkably successful, and it may well be the correct and sufficient account of what happened. However, interest in variations from the standard picture come from two sources: First, big bang nucleosynthesis can be used to constrain physics of the early universe. Second, there may be some discrepancy between predictions of SBBN and observations ...

We calculate primordial abundances of light elements produced during big bang nucleosynthesis when the fine structure constant and/or the cosmic expansion rate take non-standard values. We compare them with the recent values of observed D, He and Li abundances, which show slight inconsistency among themselves in the standard big bang nucleosynthesis scenario. This inconsistency is not solved by...

In infinitely cyclic cosmology past eras are discussed using set theory and transfinite numbers. One consistent scenario, already in the literature, is where there is always a countably infinite number, א0, of universes and no big bang. I describe here an alternative where the present number of universes is א0 and in the infinite past there was only a finite number of universes. In this alterna...

The dual origin of population II 7Li, in both big bang nucleosynthesis and galactic cosmic-ray nucleosynthesis is discussed. It is argued that with additional 6Li data, stringent limits on the degree of 7Li depletion can be obtained. 7Li depletion is also constrained by the concordance of big bang predictions with observational determinations of light element abundances. Stringent limits can al...

The early evolution of living birds has been sharply debated, with two disparate interpretations. Molecularclock studies consistently date the emergence of modern bird orders at ,100 million years ago or older, coincidental with major continental breakup. This is supported by some biogeographers who use phylogenetics, accept an ancient evolutionary origin and use historical geology to guide the...

CIENCE IS a congeries of great quests, and cosmology is the grandest of the great quests. Taking as its province the universe as a whole, cosmology addresses the old, the ineradicable questions about space and time, nature and destiny. It is not a subject for the tame or the timid. For the first half of the 20th century, cosmology remained a discipline apart, as a clutch of talented but otherwo...