whats outside the universe?

[nix-j-c]

For the purposes of this part of the question lets say that there's one universe.

If the universe is expanding, what is it expanding into? Is it the same nothingness that was here before the big bang?
OR is the nothiness the same nothingness that makes up the 99.99% of our universe ie the nothingness between our planets, excluding asteral objects such as moons, comets and asteroids?


BUT if there was more than one universe and their all constantly expanding, there would have to be an infinite amount of nothingness between them, else they would collide.
AND were these other universes created in our big bang or did each universe have a separate bigbang?


OR are the different dimensions different universes that collided together. If this were true, wouldn't we be constantly recieving new dimensions forever?

[rov1200]

Good question! To add to this if the universe is expanding why is the shape the way it is? Starting from the big bang you would expect it to be the shape of a ball unless there are other factors preventing this. Maybe like you say there could be more than 1 universe. Also as the universe is expanding why do the relative positions around the suns stay almost constant, whats holding them together? Could it be that our planetary system was formed after the big bang and the expansion only applies to non or gray matter?

[knobbynonut5]

Whifffeys brain

[MyNameIsEarl]

Lippys out of knobbys universe and is currently residing in a spanish barmans universe.

[Teddio]

The "nothingness" making up 99.99% of our Universe contains space and time.

[jake-the-peg]

There is a common misunderstanding about the big bang.

People think about it as if there were some giant star exploding into an already present vacuum.

It's not.

Space itself was created in the big bang. It's not so much an explosion of matter into an empty vacuum as an explosion of space, carrying everything along with it like petals in a stream. It's the water moving not the petals.

There is no "outside" of our universe in the way that outside is normally meant.

So why do we talk of other Universes?

Well some of the parameters for our existence seem surprisingly finely tuned for our existance. If some of the parameters that govern natural laws were slightly different there would be no matter. Let alone life.

So some people have suggested that our universe is just one of many and these parameters just happen to be right in this one.

It might answer the queston of why gravity is so weak if it leaks into them.

But there's really no more evidence for them than that.

So where would they be? Perhaps in different physical dimensions which we cannot see.

If the collide there's no reason to believe they'd interact any more than two light rays "collide" when you cross two torch beams at 90 degrees.

Or perhaps the whole idea of other Universes is simply not true. We don't know how the physical laws came to be as they are perhaps they are all connected and perhaps this is the only way the Universe could be. It might look incredibly unlikely because we can't see the connections.

[Rev. Green]

If you think of the Universe as a large onion with us at the centre then each layer of the onion is larger than the layer inside it, except near to the surface of the onion where each layer is SMALLER than the layer inside it, because the outer layers correspond to very early times when the Universe was small. The outermost layer, corresponding to the instant of the big bang has zero size, and there are no layers "further away" because neither time nor space exists there.

[Scarramouch]

indeed Jake is correct regarding the big bang. There was no object. The big bang derived from a quantum singularity. A unimaginal tiny amount of matter. It is worth noting that some of the questions here cannot be definitevely answered. Firstly it would demand a working knowledge of quantum physics as well as traditional physics. Also these two schools of physics need to be unified. As yet this has not been done. Alternate universes does seem likely though. But not existing adjacent but in alternate planes as shown by string theory. This is quantum physics. Whilst the universe is expanding and objects are drifting away from each other they are kept in relative order by gravity. This isnt some strange unseen force. A large object creates a dent in space. Much like a ball would sitting upon an outstretched cloth. Place a pea on that cloth and it will be attracted to the ball. Take another ball and imagine you could throw it so hard it disappears over the horizon. The ball would be continually falling due to gravity but would not fall to earth. This is how an orbit is maintained regardless of gravity.