Big Bang Cosmology and String Theory Stories by Bibhas De
Big Bang and String Theory Stories by Bibhas De
Big Bang Cosmology and String Theory Stories by Bibhas De
FROGPOND COSMOLOGY
THE HAZE
THE HOT DAMN HYPOTHESIS
GODTALK
FROGPOND COSMOLOGY
The frogpond in a clearing inside a deep jungle has been here a long time. High above the pond is the dense canopy of the jungle. The clearing itself is circled by dense-packed tree trunks. The pond is fairly large but shallow, and a community of frogs has lived here for many generations. They have evolved the many qualities necessary to form and live in a society atmosphere. Beyond that, they have also evolved certain higher aspirations of the mind – inspired mostly by the wise among them. At the time of this story, there were three such wise frogs in particular - names of Boka, Burbak and Ahmak. Their particular interest was to gain knowledge of the Universe.
[courtesy: www.cwf-fcf.org]
The state of cosmology at this point in time was thus: The Universe had a solid termination below, a semi-transition layer above, and beyond this - the final dense dark edge. Through this limiting dark edge however, some light filtered through. So the idea was that beyond the Universe there was just light – nothing else. No matter, no dimensionality, no directionality, just light. This light was slowly turned on and off in a cyclic fashion - and that created the frog 'day' and the frog 'night'. The horizon was a circle which enclosed the semi-transition layer. One could cross this circle and venture beyond to the place where there was just the solid bottom underfoot and no atmosphere. One did not venture out very far in this forbidding territory. Monstrous alien beings of all descriptions have been spotted here. It was not safe.
Now the three wise frogs felt the strong urge - as all wise frogs do - to leave their own special mark on this cosmology. But to do so they needed new information, new observations. As it turns out, they were in luck.
[courtesy: wikimedia]
Around about this time there was a great forest fire, and when it got done, the canopy was all charred. The frogs sensed the great holocaust, and stayed under water mostly to survive from it - except for taking an occasional peek. After the holocaust was over, there was sparkling bright, unfiltered daylight over the pond. As the charred branches and burned leaves fell, the canopy gradually became clearer. The light on the pond started to get brighter by the day. The three wise frogs immediately sprung to action.
Boka said: The edge of the Universe is flying away from us. The Universe is expanding and letting in more light. This is why we are seeing more and more light every day.
Burbak said: That means the Universe has exploded. This tremendous light and sound and agitation above the semi-transition layer we saw was the explosion. And the yellowish light that we saw – that had tremendous heat associated with it - was the very first light of this explosion.
Now Ahmak rose to the occasion: But along with yellowish light and heat, we also so coils and drapes of dark stuff fill the forest. That must be the basic underlying phenomenon. The basis of everything is coils and drapes.
And thus it was that the frogs began to close in on the Universe. What it was up until now was irrelevant. Then drapes butted against one another, causing a tremendous explosion. The Universe started expanding. Everything was ultimately coils and drapes.
The name of Boka became forever associated with The Exapanding Universe, Burbak with The Original Explosion, and Ahmak with The Coil Theory and the Draips.
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THE HAZE
The Kingdom of Bombagor is rife with rumors of an alien invasion. The spectacular Valley of the Moon has been settled by a greenish-purplish haze that does not appear to be like anything of this Earth. Scientists have had many stabs at it, but failed to explain the particular color of the glow. The problem is, any instrument that is taken there to study the haze starts to malfunction. No credible scientific data can be acquired.
[Image source: www.digitalsky.org.uk]
The Haze
Naturally, the problem is then referred to the highest authority in Alien Science, Dr. Jonas Motherwell of the Royal Bombagorese Space Authority. An astronomical instrument builder all his life, Motherwell quickly gets to the heart of the problem. He puts his instrument package inside a specially shielded enclosure, having a rock crystal window to admit light. "This ought to do the job," says Motherwell.
His colleagues ask: "How can we be sure though, Jon?"
Motherwell replies: "What we will do is this. We will do that which has never been done before, to discover that which has never been discovered before. We will position this shielded instrument package looking at the Haze. But an identical instrument package without the shield will be installed some distance away - free from any influence of the Haze. Then, at exactly the same instant of time, we will have the two stations look up at the sky and take pictures of the Moon. These two pictures should be identical in every respect. That will be the absolute guarantee that the shielded instrument is functioning properly. Therefore, any picture it takes of the Haze is perfectly faithful, scientifically speaking."
To make a long story short, Motherwell's pictures of the Haze were most astounding, and led to the greatest discovery in the history of man. From within the Haze, there emerged the outline of the face of God, and the emanations from the Haze were interprted to contain intimations of immortality. He became a celebrated hero of unprecedented magnitude - and regarded as a greater explorer than Magellan, Columbus, Galileo, Newton and Einstein.
Motherwell's book The Very First Haze describing this experience became a bestseller in Bombagor. He became so busy on the lecture circuit that he could not travel to all the venues all the time. So he used the RBSA videoconference facility to speak to the far corners of the World. Asked about his worldview, he would famously say: My job is to build that which has never been built before, to discover that which has never been discovered before.
One day, fifteen years on, the airwaves are burning up with the much-expected news: Motherwell has been awarded the Magnificent Prize. A full day of festivities follows. In the evening, a very tired Magnificent Laureate sits contentedly in his office, chatting with a colleague.
At one point, the colleague asks: "By the way Jon, what happened to the twin Moon pictures?"
"They were Ok," replies Motherwell.
"Can I see 'em?"
"Well, I don't think we have them anymore. When we moved offices in connection with my appointment as the RBSA HQ Chief Scientist, they got lost."
The colleague becomes curious. He tracks down the RBSA technician that worked with Motherwell immediately following the Haze experiment. The colleague takes him to the local Appleby's Bar and invests several rounds of draft beer.
The technician finally loosens up and remembers: "The two pictures of the Moon looked completely different. But Jon said they were identical, scientifically speaking. He told me not to worry about it. So I did not think further about this. What do I, a lowly technician, know?!"
"OK, but what did the two pictures look like?"
"Hey man, I don't want to get into any trouble. So this is just between you and me."
"Sure."
"One was a regular Moon shot. The other looked like an Anchovy-and-Jalapeno-Pepper Pizza from Papa John's."
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The Royal Swedish Academy (kva)
On the day of summer solstice at high noon, three American brothers are passing in front of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (kva) in Stockholm. They come upon a tall Swede who is just walking out of the kva.
1st American: You are taller.
Swede: Excuse me!
2nd Am: You are taller than what our Hot Damn Hypothesis says.
Sw: What is the Hot Damn Hypothesis and what does it have to do with me?
3rd Am: Hot Damn Hypothesis was formulated by our Grand Dragon Bishop LaMuerte. It says that if you meet a Swede at high noon on summer solstice in front of the kva, he will be 5 feet 10-1/2 inches tall.
Sw: Well, I am 6 feet 2 inches. So your hypothesis is wrong.
1st Am: No, the HDH is Received Truth and cannot be wrong. So give us a minute to figure out what is going on here. [The three brothers huddle. Suddenly their faces light up all at once.]
2nd Am: We've got it! It is nothing less than a shocking physics discovery. The HDH also says that after high noon, the height will be greater. That means that even though our watch says high noon, it is actually later than that.
3rd Am: So our discovery is that the speed of spinning of the Earth is accelerating!
Sw: Hot damn!! Well, come in, come in. Let's go into the building and have some refreshment while I see if I can rustle up couple of three Nobel Prizes.
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GODTALK
By the year 2015 physics was humming like at no time before. The two major areas of research, the Great Gong Theory and the Superthread Theory practically defined all of physics. So naturally, the question of Merger & Acquisition arose. After some preliminary meetings between the parties, it was decided that this should be a merger of equals, and not an M&A. The merged entity would be led by two co-equal CEOs: Professor Tex Austin and Professor Everard Vitton. It was noted that while the Great Gong Theory had great experimental success, the Superthread Theory had captured the public's imagination. So there would be great synergy.
The first project following the merger was for the Gongers to help the Threaders perform experimental verfication of the Superthread Theory - something the critics have been clamoring for for a long time. In response to this clamoring, Professor Vitton finally came through with an elaborate trheory that calculated the resting body temperature of God to be 314.159265 +/- 0.0000 degrees Kelvin.
And this how the $100 billion GOBE Satellite was born in Bombagor - tasked to measure the above temperature. The man in charge of this project was none other than Professor Rumpelstiltskin Pumpernickel of the Royal Bombagorese Space Agency. An instrument builder all his life, he was a shoe-in for this position. The first thing he did was to name the satellite after his spiritual guide Guru Om Baba the Eremite, an Eastern mystic who first suggested the idea of applying the Superthread Theory to God.
To make a long story short, in the year of our Lord 2020 the Nobel Prize for Physics was given unshared to Professor Rumpelstiltskin Pumpernickel of the RBSA
for spectacularly verifying the Superstring Theory by measuring the resting body temperature of God with the extreme precision of 5 parts per million.
The announcement of the discovery on October 4 of that year was met with great entusiasm worldwide.
The Vatican issued laudatory comments to the effect that warmth of the Lord is the greatest of all comforts.
Professor Everard Vitton, who sat on the Albert Einstein Distinguished Chair of the Bombagorese Institute of Advanced Study, explained that this relates to his theory of threadlike emanation from God. This emanation is in the form of undulating Draips that are a staple of the Superthread Theory.
And the superfamous British physicist whose name needs no mention declared this as the greatest discovery of all time to come.
And of course the critics of the Superthread Theory fell completely silent.
The Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics, Erki Eriksson, answered questions at a Press Conference held following the announcement ceremony. A very persistent reporter from Transnistria asked:
Q: That is indeed a most phenomenal discovery. But how'd he do it?
Erki: Well, he used the most modern techniques in temperature measurement, coupled with computer software that helped refine that measurement. And indeed, we the Physics Nobel Committee - we call ourselves the Nobel Class of 2020 - feel that this is the most phenomenal discovery ever, giving us the very first scientific evidence of the existence of God.
Q: OK, but how'd he measure the temperature in actuality?
Erki: He used a tiny thermocouple probe that he developed himself. It has a very novel and innovative construction.
Q: I mean, how did he take the temperature of God?
Erki: Let me give you some details. The GOBE Satellite was first placed on a geosynchronous orbit. There it stayed for two months to acclimatize its electronics to the environment and to prepare to meet God. After two months the time came for the resting season of God. Then, using the Hohmann Transfer Ellipse, the satellite was stationed at the orbit where the target temperature could be measured with the greatest of accuracy. I believe the readings of the instrument were telemetered to the Earth in real time, and the data were analyzed at the RBSA lab. The TDRSS network was used.
Q: Excuse me, Sir, but you are avoiding my question. You are giving us all kinds of information except the one that is the crux of this discovery. Thermocouple, telemetry ... we know all this. There is nothing new here. What I am asking you, again, is: How did he apply the temperature probe to God's ... er ... body?
Erki: Well ... that's not relevant. Let's move on to the next person.
Q: [The same reporter persists] It seems to me that crucial scientific information with regard to the design of the GOBE Satellite is not being disclosed to the public. Did Professor Pumpernickel apply his probe to God orally or ... er ... did he stick it ...you know ...?
Erki: Well ... that is of no concern to the Nobel Class of 2020. It is a private matter between the Lord and Professor Pumpernickel. It comes under the doctrine of Doctor-Patient Confidentiality. Surely you have heard of that?! Who's next with a different question?
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