There Is an External Cause of the Universe

Before I begin, however, I would like to counter my opponent's suggestion that sources not be counted. The arguments I am about to present require a large amount of sources for backup and ideas, and this debate is somewhat of a scientific debate, so sources are not only recommended, but practically required. Sources should mainly be judged on their relevance and credibility, and less on their sheer number. An External Cause Is ImpossibleQuantum superpositions require non-observation to not collapse. Quantum superposition states tha a physical system exists partly in all its particular theoretically possible states (or, configuration of its properties) simultaneously, but when measured or observed, it gives a result corresponding to only one of the possible configurations. This makes an external cause impossible because of the following argument:P1: An external cause would have an omniscient view of the universe due to its very nature, and thus observes all quantum superpositions. P2: Observation collapses quantum superpositions. P3: An all-observing cause would automatically collapse all quantum superpositions. (from 2)P4: We observe that not all quantum superpositions are collapsed. C: Therefore, an external cause cannot exist. (from 1, 3 and 4)Causality Is Not RequiredNot everything requires an inherent cause to its existence. Quantum fluctuations are an example of this. During this, a particle and antiparticle exist for a very short time (even shorter than Planck time), and then annihilate with a great release of energy. Because the time of the fluctuation's existence is even shorter than Planck time, it does not technically violate any physical laws because of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. At this, we arrive at a very remarkable conclusion that the quantum vacuum is the source of all potentiality. [1]This theory isn't as far-fetched as it seems. For example, protons and neutrons, two classes of baryons, particles consisting of three quarks, have a lot of unaccounted-for volume because the mass of those three quarks only adds up to about 1% of the apparent weight of a proton or neutron. "Theory says it is created by the force that binds quarks together, called the strong nuclear force. .. The energy of these vacuum fluctuations has to be included in the total mass of the proton and neutron. .. For now, Dürr's calculation shows that QCD describes quark-based particles accurately, and tells us that most of our mass comes from virtual quarks and gluons fizzing away in the quantum vacuum. "[2]Now that we understand quantum fluctuations and the inherent potentiality in a quantum vacuum, now let's see how this applies to the universe's creation itself. Because space itself was created as the universe expanded, at the instant of creation, there was a singularity - a "point" of infinite density and temperature that held everything the universe now contains, including matter and energy. Because it is an infinite, it is physically impossible to observe, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist (I'll get to more on that later). The black hole is the modern analog to this: "A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not escape. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. " What prevents us from seeing inside is the "event horizon", or the point in space where the space becomes black. This solves two problems - because the force can even pull light in, one time stops, and two, observation is prevented. So essentially, there was no time before the singularity (more on that later as well). [3]Inside this black hole, quantum fluctuations from energy, which was a net zero (matter is positive energy while that huge gravitational force was negative energy, both of which made the total energy sum to zero), created the universe. The original time constraints are not there anymore because the total energy summed to zero: "[T]he laws of physics place no limit on the scale of vacuum fluctuations. The duration is of course subject to the restriction ΔEΔt = h, but this merely implies that our Universe has zero energy, which has already been made plausible. " The first universe epoch was the Planck era - unfortunately, we do not know much about it, but we do think this: "The Universe expands from the moment of the Big Bang, but until the Universe reaches the size of the Planck scale, there is no time or space. Time remains undefined, space is compactified. String theory maintains that the Universe had 10 dimensions during the Planck era, which collapses into 4 at the end of the Planck era (think of those extra 6 dimensions as being very, very small hyperspheres inbetween the space between elementary particles, 4 big dimensions and 6 little tiny ones). "[4][1] I won't go into much more detail (besides the two quotes below) because I think it's understood that the universe could be created without a cause, because although the Planck time marks the beginning of the universe, the convoluted nature of spacetime in this early phase, with numerous singularities and overlapping event horizons, makes it impossible for matter, photons, or even causality to exist. Matter arises at the end of the spacetime foam epoch as the result of strings, or loops in spacetime. The transformation is from ripping spacetime foam into black holes, which then transmute into elementary particles:"In general relativity, space-time can be empty of matter or radiation and still contain energy stored in its curvature. Uncaused, random quantum fluctuations in a flat, empty, featureless space-time can produce local regions with positive or negative curvature. This is called the "space-time foam" and the regions are called "bubbles of false vacuum. " Wherever the curvature is positive a bubble of false vacuum will, according to Einstein's equations, exponentially inflate. In 10^-42 seconds the bubble will expand to the size of a proton and the energy within will be sufficient to produce all the mass of the universe. The bubbles start out with no matter, radiation, or force fields and maximum entropy. They contain energy in their curvature, and so are a "false vacuum. " As they expand, the energy within increases exponentially. This does not violate energy conservation since the false vacuum has a negative pressure (believe me, this is all follows from the equations that Einstein wrote down in 1916) so the expanding bubble does work on itself. As the bubble universe expands, a kind of friction occurs in which energy is converted into particles. The temperature then drops and a series of spontaneous symmetry breaking processes occurs, as in a magnet cooled below the Curie point and a essentially random structure of the particles and forces appears. Inflation stops and we move into the more familiar big bang. The forces and particles that appear are more-or-less random, governed only by symmetry principles (like the conservation principles of energy and momentum) that are also not the product of design but exactly what one has in the absence of design. "[5]To sum the contents of this extremely complicated argument down: "The fact that the Universe exists should not be a surprise in the context of what we know about quantum physics. The uncertainty and unpredictability of the quantum world is manifested in the fact that whatever can happen, does happen (this is often called the principle of totalitarianism, that if a quantum mechanical process is not strictly forbidden, then it must occur). .. The same principles were probably in effect at the time of the Big Bang (although we can not test this hypothesis within our current framework of physics). But as such, the fluctuations in the quantum vacuum effectively guarantee that the Universe would come into existence. "[1]In conclusion to this very long argument, causality is not only not required for the universe, causality could not even have existed because of the universe of the universe during its earliest moments. The universe was acausal. Acausal ExplanationsThere are a number of other possible explanations for the origin of the universe itself, even though it is acausal. Ekpyrotic Universe: ". .. our current universe arose from a collision of two three-dimensional worlds (branes) in a space with an extra (fourth) spatial dimension. "[6]Retro-Causality: "Quantum entanglement is a state where two particles have correlated properties: when you make a measurement on one, it constrains the outcome of the measurement on the second, even if the two particles are widely separated. It's also possible to entangle more than two particles, and even to spread out the entanglements over time, so that a system that was only partly entangled at the start is made fully entangled later on. "[7][8]Simultaneous Causality: Imagine atoms A, B, and C. A comes into existence and instantaneously causes B, which instantaneously causes C, which instantaneously causes A. All of the atoms have causal explanation, and they all begin to exist at the exact same time. All three of these explanations do not require an external cause, or even a cause itself. All are the result of properties inherent in the universe, and are acausal. ConclusionAn external cause is not required, is impossible, and there are other ways for the universe to have come about. Sources[1]: . http://abyss.uoregon.edu...[2]: . http://www.newscientist.com...[3]: . http://www.nasa.gov...[4]: Tryon, Edward P. 1973. "Is the universe a vacuum fluctuation? " Nature 246: 396-397. [5]: . http://www.colorado.edu...[6]: . http://wwwphy.princeton.edu...[7]: . http://arstechnica.com...[8]: . http://arxiv.org...