Will cosmology ever confirm the Big Bang theory?

[vincentm]

confirm the Big Bang theory? I know that we currently have a lot of evidence to support it. But what I'm not sure of is why can't we see beyond the Planck Epoch 10^-43 or confirm that yes the universe did exist as a singularity beyond this point? And did this "singularity exist as some kind of "cosmic foam" in which all the forces of natures were bind together by some other force, when did the laws of physics actually come into being? was it at the Planck Epoch or were they already in existence prior to this?

 

[Garth]

The further we go away from the laboratory the further we get away from the ablility to confirm theories of astrophysical and cosmological phenomena in terms of laboratory physics. The act of observation is always theory dependent no matter how reliable that theory may be.

In the end we can never absolutely confirm a theory, we can only falsify it, however, there may be so much cross-confirming data that the deduction is confirmed beyond all reasonable doubt.

That we do understand so much about the universe at large is a triumph for science and the hard painstaking work astronomers have put in over the centuries.

However, when we approach the limits of observation that understanding becomes more and more debatable. As we approach the BB singularity and ask questions of its origin ("to infinity and beyond") we are approaching the 'science fact'/'science speculation' interface, our theories may never be able to be confirmed. All we can hope for is a consistent understanding of the whole.

Garth

 

[Chronos]

Well put, Garth. You have captured the essence of the question.