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How did the universe come to be? We don’t know yet, of course, but we know enough about cosmology, gravitation, and quantum mechanics to put together models that standing a fighting chance of capturing some of the truth.

Stephen Hawking‘s favorite idea is that the universe came out of “nothing” — it arose (although that’s not really the right word) as a quantum fluctuation with literally no pre-existing state. No space, no time, no anything. But there’s another idea that’s at least as plausible: that the universe arose out of something, but that “something” was simply “chaos,” whatever that means in the context of quantum gravity. Space, time, and energy, yes; but no order, no particular arrangement.

It’s an old idea, going back at least to Lucretius, and contemplated by David Hume as well as by Ludwig Boltzmann. None of those guys, of course, knew very much of our modern understanding of cosmology, gravitation, and quantum mechanics. So what would the modern version look like?

That’s the question that Anthony Aguirre, Matt Johnson and I tackled in a paper that just appeared on arxiv. (Both of my collaborators have also been guest-bloggers here at CV.)

    Out of equilibrium: understanding cosmological evolution to lower-entropy states
    Anthony Aguirre, Sean M. Carroll, Matthew C. Johnson

    Despite the importance of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, it is not absolute. Statistical mechanics implies that, given sufficient time, systems near equilibrium will spontaneously fluctuate into lower-entropy states, locally reversing the thermodynamic arrow of time. We study the time development of such fluctuations, especially the very large fluctuations relevant to cosmology. Under fairly general assumptions, the most likely history of a fluctuation out of equilibrium is simply the CPT conjugate of the most likely way a system relaxes back to equilibrium. We use this idea to elucidate the spacetime structure of various fluctuations in (stable and metastable) de Sitter space and thermal anti-de Sitter space.

It was Boltzmann who long ago realized that the Second Law, which says that the entropy of a closed system never decreases, isn’t quite an absolute “law.” It’s just a statement of overwhelming probability: there are so many more ways to be high-entropy (chaotic, disorderly) than to be low-entropy (arranged, orderly) that almost anything a system might do will move it toward higher entropy. But not absolutely anything; we can imagine very, very unlikely events in which entropy actually goes down.

In fact we can do better than just imagine: this has been observed in the lab. The likelihood that entropy will increase rather than decrease goes up as you consider larger and larger systems. So if you want to do an experiment that is likely to observe such a thing, you want to work with just a handful of particles, which is what experimenters succeeded in doing in 2002. But Boltzmann teaches us than any system, no matter how large, will eventually fluctuate into a lower-entropy state if we wait long enough. So what if we wait forever?

It’s possible that we can’t wait forever, of course; maybe the universe spends only a finite time in a lively condition like we see around us, before settling down to a truly stable equilibrium that never fluctuates. But as far as we currently know, it’s equally reasonable to imagine that it does last forever, and that it is always fluctuating. This is a long story, but a universe dominated by a positive cosmological constant (dark energy that never fades away) behaves a lot like a box of gas at a fixed temperature. Our universe seems to be headed in that direction; if it stays there, we will have fluctuations for all eternity.

Which means that empty space will eventually fluctuate into — well, anything at all, really. Including an entire universe.

This basic story has been known for some time. What Anthony and Matt and I have tried to add is a relatively detailed story of how such a fluctuation actually proceeds — what happens along the way from complete chaos (empty space with vacuum energy) to something organized like a universe. Our answer is simple: the most likely way to go from high-entropy chaos to low-entropy order is exactly like the usual way that systems evolve from low entropy to high-, just played backward in time.

The Decision: Answered?

After watching the LeBron James press conference after the loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, it finally hit me. Being a hoops fan, I’ve heard the LeBron comparisons for years. Scottie Pippen didn’t help matters when he anointed LeBron better than Michael Jordan after a few terrific games in this year’s Playoffs.

It was clear after this series that LeBron James isn’t the next Michael Jordan and he’s not the next Magic Johnson. As I watch LeBron stoically stare into the crowd of cameras and tape recorders stumbling over his words, it finally came to me who LeBron resembles more as a player. LeBron James is becoming the next Allen Iverson. Look at the recent events. The mocking of Dirk Nowitzki the “regular people comment” and his overall demeanor on the court and with the media. When trying to figure out what player LeBron will more likely mimic, let’s look toward “The Answer.”

When AI entered the League, like LeBron, he was a young hotshot with a raw athletic ability rivaled by no one prior. No other point guard at the time could match Iverson in speed with and without the ball, or could play at the high level that he brought every night. While his talent was off the charts, his attitude was way below the line of acceptable and it showed throughout his career.

As much as you remember the ankle breaking crossovers and other highlight reel plays, you remember the off the court drama. The arrests, his clashes with coaches and his love/hate relationship with the media. Who can ever really forget his epic “Practice, what is practice” rant? AI will always be regarded as a great player by his fans and true supporters, but Iverson missed the target when it came to becoming the superstar that we figured he would be.

Like AI, the bar was set high for him before he even entered the League. His star was already placed in the sky, his name already etched in the history books. His path was already set by anyone who watched the game of basketball. Like Allen Iverson, after a few seasons filled with great individual statistics and achievements he was far from being the game-changing superstar we assumed he would be.

LeBron has a couple of MVP awards and a couple of 60-win seasons with the Cavs that he can brag about, but those positives can’t seem to hide the fact that his leadership ability and composure are up for question. While he’s not the mess that Iverson could be when it came to the media, he’s pretty close. His actions and comments during the Finals show that he doesn’t understand the impact his words and actions have.

Unlike AI, LeBron James has more time to work out his issues with teammates, fans and the media. He’s not the anti-hero that Iverson was. LeBron seems like he genuinely wants to be respected on and off the court. He seems to want his legacy to be more about what he did on the court than what was done off the court.

Time will be the only way to gauge LeBron James. He shouldn’t have to fill the shoes of any player other than his own. After eight seasons in the League, he’s still trying to find his way. By the end of his career, I bet LeBron not only finds the answer to his current woes, but his play on the court will force opponents to have a have to deal with a lot of questions.

The Avengers (2012) Plot Details and Spoilers

According to the Latino Review, the big bad guy the Avengers will be facing in the

Joss Whedon directed film of the same name will be, who has been rumored, Loki.

Apparently, Loki gets his hands on the Tesseract, or as us comic readers know it by -

the cosmic cube.

According to sources, Loki uses this to summon the alien race known as the Skrulls to

attack earth.

What about the Hulk?

We do know the Avengers are said to battle among themselves and Marvel Studios

President and producer on The Avengers said the following:

"In my opinion, The Skrulls are really the only viable threat that would require so

many super heroes to fight as a team. Sure, you could have The Hulk as a villain in

the beginning, but then they have to come together for an even bigger threat.

Something hinted about in IM2, Thor and Cap by Nick Fury's presence. Plus Fox doesn't

have the rights to The Skrulls, only the Super Skrull. But this is just my inner geek

thinking out loud and hoping."

What I think happens and spoilers for Thor, Captain America and The Avengers.

Assuming any of the above to be true:

Bruce Banner becomes the Hulk at the beginning and is uncontrollable. The Avengers

are summoned to handle this threat. Eventually, the Green Goliath is subdued with the

Hulk transforming back to Banner.

pic

The Tesseract plays a part in all three movies as we already know from the images of

the Red Skull, it appears in Captain America: First Avenger. According to the Thor

script spoilers, the Tesseract appears in the movie inside Asgard's treasure chamber.

Loki wants to rule Asgard - and obviously gets defeated in the upcoming Thor movie.

So he wants revenge and of course, at the same time, still wants Asgard. Loki

acquires the Tesseract summoning the advanced shape-shifting alien race known as The

Skrulls. He wants his brother destroyed, as well as Midgard (Earth); note: but not

Asgard.

Well, something goes wrong and Loki no longer has control over the Skrulls. Perhaps,

the Tesseract loses its power, and the Skrulls now decide to invade and take over

everything.

This is similar to Loki's MO in the comics, where he is only thinking of himself and

brings forth a great threat that ends up threatening that which he loves - Asgard.

Of course, the Avengers assemble - with the Hulk - to take down this threat.

pic

Actually, Kevin Feige was involved in an animated Marvel movie "Hulk Vs." where Loki

brought Banner to Asgard, separated Banner from the Hulk - and then unleashed the

Hulk upon Asgard. Loki thought he could control the Hulk with his magic, but couldn't

tame the beast. When Loki realizes just what he has done, he ends up teaming with his

brother to stop the Hulk.

Sounds similar.

I guess, we'll have to stay tuned as we are still a year or so away!

The Avengers is set to assemble in theaters May 4th 2012 starring Robert Downey Jr.,

Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Samuel L.

Jackson.