Introduction

The simplest and mathematically most consistent way of understanding why the universe is now expanding is to say it is a rebound from a previous collapse phase. Gamow calls this pre-Big Bang era the "St. Augustine Era" since it was St. Augustine who first raised the question of what God was doing before He created the heavens and the Earth. If the present universe is but one cycle in an infinite or semi-infinite series of expansion-contraction cycles, then the question of the origin of the universe is projected back in time to the remote, and even infinite, past. Between cycles, the matter in each closed universe is compressed into a dense state, and then rebounds to begin a new expansion cycle. It may even be possible for some of the matter to avoid the initial Singularity itself as it bounces through this state.

Related EoC Articles

• Universe
• Universe: Chinese Genesis
• Universe: Cold Big Bang
• Universe: Creation
• Universe: Cyclical
• Universe: Einstein-DeSitter
• Universe: Expansion
• Universe: Friedman
• Universe: Higher Dimensions
• Universe: Hot Big Bang
• Universe: Infinity
• Universe: Many-Worlds
• Universe: Maori
• Universe: Mixmaster
• Universe: Multiverse
• Universe: Mythology
• Universe: Oscillating
• Universe: Platonic
• Universe: Pre-relativistic
• Universe: Scandinavian
• Universe: Static
• Universe: Steady State
• Universe: Watery Abyss
• Universe: Zuni Indian

External Links

• George Gamow - Wikipedia.
• Oscillatory Universe - Wikipedia.

Preview Image

"Oscillatory universe / quasi-steady-state model" user-box - Wikimedia Commons.