What Was the Initial Energy of the Universe: Planck Energy or Singularity?

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The discussion centers on the initial energy of the universe, debating whether it was Planck energy, infinite energy from a singularity, or zero energy. The concept of a singularity suggests infinite energy, contradicting the idea of a universe emerging from nothing. Some participants argue that the universe likely began with a finite amount of energy, while others highlight the ambiguity of defining global energy in General Relativity. The conversation emphasizes the lack of consensus on this topic, suggesting that the true initial energy may lie between small and zero. Ultimately, the question remains complex and unresolved within the framework of current scientific understanding.
liometopum
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I am wondering what people here think the initial energy of the universe was.

The Planck energy? Implies a finite amount of energy
A Singularity? This implies an infinite amount of energy.
 
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Zero? Implies that Lawrence Krauss is right.(:P)
 
Thanks Bandersnatch. I'd thought of listing that too, but it was my impression that at the moment the expansion started that at least a little something was there. My post was purposely vague though and left that idea fully available.
The initial singularity is often described as being of infinite energy and matter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_singularity
Infinite is infinite... it would not be a universe from nothing, if there was a singularity of infinite energy at the moment expansion started; all the energy is already there. I have heard lecturers state the universe started with a small amount of energy, quite contrary to an infinite amount. With two extremes, I wanted to hear input from forum members.
I guess I should define the starting condition I am thinking of, and that is the start of expansion.
 
liometopum said:
I am wondering what people here think the initial energy of the universe was.
Actually, there isn't an unambiguous answer to this question: global energy is not a well-defined quantity in General Relativity. Either way, the answer is probably somewhere between small and zero, depending upon how you define the global energy.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recombination_(cosmology) Was a matter density right after the decoupling low enough to consider the vacuum as the actual vacuum, and not the medium through which the light propagates with the speed lower than ##({\epsilon_0\mu_0})^{-1/2}##? I'm asking this in context of the calculation of the observable universe radius, where the time integral of the inverse of the scale factor is multiplied by the constant speed of light ##c##.
The formal paper is here. The Rutgers University news has published a story about an image being closely examined at their New Brunswick campus. Here is an excerpt: Computer modeling of the gravitational lens by Keeton and Eid showed that the four visible foreground galaxies causing the gravitational bending couldn’t explain the details of the five-image pattern. Only with the addition of a large, invisible mass, in this case, a dark matter halo, could the model match the observations...
Hi, I’m pretty new to cosmology and I’m trying to get my head around the Big Bang and the potential infinite extent of the universe as a whole. There’s lots of misleading info out there but this forum and a few others have helped me and I just wanted to check I have the right idea. The Big Bang was the creation of space and time. At this instant t=0 space was infinite in size but the scale factor was zero. I’m picturing it (hopefully correctly) like an excel spreadsheet with infinite...

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