Looking for defunct papers/theories

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the search for defunct theories and papers in cosmology, particularly focusing on concepts such as time reversal in a collapsing universe and Einstein's cosmological constant. Participants explore historical ideas and their relevance to contemporary understanding of the universe's expansion and dark energy.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Historical
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant mentions an idea that time would run backward if the universe were to undergo a big crunch, suggesting it may have been proposed by Stephen Hawking but later abandoned after mathematical testing.
  • Another participant recalls a similar idea regarding the entropy arrow of time reversing during a universe collapse, although they are uncertain about its origin.
  • The discussion includes the historical context of Einstein's cosmological constant, noting that it was initially abandoned when Edwin Hubble documented the universe's expansion.
  • One participant argues that the cosmological constant and the current understanding of dark energy are not directly related, expressing frustration over common misconceptions linking the two concepts.
  • They explain that Einstein's cosmological constant was originally used to create a static universe model, which became unnecessary once expansion was observed, and that the later discovery of the universe's acceleration recontextualized the constant without reviving Einstein's original idea.
  • Another participant expresses interest in finding historical papers from notable physicists like Niels Bohr and Richard Feynman, questioning their accessibility online.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants exhibit some agreement on the historical context of the cosmological constant but express differing views on its relationship to current theories of dark energy. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the specifics of the time reversal concept and the accessibility of historical papers.

Contextual Notes

There are limitations regarding the clarity of the origins of certain ideas, the definitions of terms like "cosmological constant," and the assumptions underlying the discussions about time reversal and universe dynamics.

Beer w/Straw
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Shot in the dark here, don't really know if these exist.

1. An idea that time would run backward if the universe would to undergoa big crunch. Think Stephen Hawking did this but abandoned the idea when the math was tested via computer.

2. Cosmological Constant by einstein. Abandoned it long ago when Edwin Hubble documented the universe was expanding. This one intrigues me cause when HST documented the universe expansion to be accelerating (dark energy) and that Einstein's idea had been given a second to try and make sense of it.

Any help would be cool cause I'm curious :)
 
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Beer w/Straw said:
Shot in the dark here, don't really know if these exist.

1. An idea that time would run backward if the universe would to undergoa big crunch. Think Stephen Hawking did this but abandoned the idea when the math was tested via computer.

This was certainly a legitimate idea. Not sure if it was proposed by Hawking, but I remember reading about it likely in the same place as you: A brief history of time. The idea (if I recall, it's been a few years) was that the entropy arrow of time should reverse as the universe begins to collapse.

2. Cosmological Constant by einstein. Abandoned it long ago when Edwin Hubble documented the universe was expanding. This one intrigues me cause when HST documented the universe expansion to be accelerating (dark energy) and that Einstein's idea had been given a second to try and make sense of it.

Any help would be cool cause I'm curious :)

The cosmological constant as proposed by Einstein and that of the current accelerating universe really aren't that related, and it often bugs me when people say they are. Einstein noted that he could attempt to choose the cosmological constant (just an arbitrary term in his equations) so as to make the universe static -- what (then) current observational evidence pointed to. Once the universe was shown to be expanding, there was no need to hand-pick a specific value of the constant, and I think most people assumed it was zero for the simplicity of the theory and lack of observational evidence otherwise.

Then of course we found out the universe is accelerating which can be modeled by the same term in Einstein's equations, but the interpretation is somewhat different. For one, we can now attempt to make sense of this parameter in terms of known physics, i.e quantum field theory. Although quantum field theory gives an absurdly wrong result for the numerical value of the constant, it's at least a step towards understanding what the parameter might mean physically.

So it's not exactly like Einstein's idea was revived or anything, observational evidence simply clarified the value of a parameter in his equations.
 
Thanks for the reply. I'm going to look closely at some wiki articles.

Didn't think I'd get a reply actually.
 
I posted the above awhile ago in general science... Aside from cosmology I was also interested in finding historical papers ie Neils Bohr, Richard Feynman... Are such things accessible via internet?
 

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