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justwondering
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For space to expand is it just able to 'stretch' to a larger size or must newly created space units be added?
bcrowell said:All the presently available cosmological data are well described by models that are based on general relativity. In GR, space is continuous, not granular.
bcrowell said:Good explanation, marcus :-)
justwondering said:And since "cosmologists deny any existence of anything including an empty vacuum prior to the Big Bang." it sure seems convincing that space is far from being nothing.
Andrew Mason said:So perhaps we could ask: "is there a discreteness to the vacuum - a minimum volume of space needed for the laws of quantum physics to operate?".
Would the Planck unit of length^3 (10^-60 m^3) not be a minimum volume of space
justwondering said:"often it is suggested that spacetime might have a discrete or foamy structure at Planck length scale."
Space may well have components, yes?
justwondering said:"often it is suggested that spacetime might have a discrete or foamy structure at Planck length scale."
Space may well have components, yes?
Andrew Mason said:Perhaps we can ask the question another way.
We have learned that space is not empty. Quantum physics tells us that the "vacuum" is full of phantom particles coming into existence and disappearing all the time. So space has a physical reality - it is not "nothing".
AM
This is a commonly asked question about the nature of space. The answer is that space is thought to be continuous, meaning it is not broken up into smaller discrete units. However, some theories in physics suggest that at a very small scale, space could be granular or have a discrete structure.
There is currently no direct evidence for a granular space. However, some theories, such as loop quantum gravity, propose that space could have a minimum length scale, which could be considered a form of granularity. This concept is still being explored and studied by scientists.
If space is indeed granular, it could have implications for our understanding of fundamental particles and the laws of physics. It could also potentially help explain phenomena such as black holes and the behavior of gravity on a small scale.
Due to the extremely small scale at which space could potentially be granular, it is currently beyond our technological capabilities to directly observe or measure this granularity. However, scientists are using various techniques and experiments to try to detect any potential evidence of a granular structure in space.
It is possible that space could possess both linear and granular properties. For example, space could be continuous on a large scale, but have a granular structure at a smaller scale. This is still a topic of debate and further research is needed to fully understand the nature of space.