New Theory Of The Universe

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30561, 2 October 1964, Page 16

New Theory Of The Universe

A recent issue of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society contains a paper in which Dr. R. G. Giovanelli, of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia, outlines an intriguing new theory of the universe—a theory that appears to aviod the difficulties which have bedevilled other cosmological theories, such as Lemaitres “Primeval Atom” or “Big-Bang” universe on the one hand or the steady state, continuous-creation theory on the other. The key idea on which Dr. Giovanelli’s proposal is based is that some parts of the universe are expanding while other parts are contracting, the net effect being to keep the universe as a whole unchanged in time. We happen to be in an expanding region, which accounts for the observed recession of distant galaxies. In the contracting regions the galaxies and their stars are collapsing inwards. The density of such regions increases to the point where the gravitational force caused by the condensed matter becomes strong enough to prevent the escape of light rays and other radition. These regions therefore become invisible. But the trapped light inside each collapsed region has the

effect of increasing the internal temperature to enormous values. The enclosed stars and galaxies lose their identities in a blazing holocaust in which the temperature may rise to more than 1000 million degrees. The heavy elements of rriatter, born from hydrogen in the central cores of normal stars, are reborn as hydrogen in this cosmic repurification. Such super-dense regions then expand and burst forth into the rest of the universe, bringing forth a fresh supply of hydrogen from which new galaxies and stars evolve. This is a grand concept. It combines the majesty of the “Big-Bang” theory with the aesthetic attractiveness of a self-perpetuating universe. Perhaps Dr. Giovanelli’s theory may explain how the newly-discovered Quasars (Quasi-Stellar objects) produce their prodigious output of energy. It is interesting to note that Dr. Giovanelli submitted the manuscript of his paper in June last year. At that time astronomers were just beginning to realise that Quasars were something quite different from mere exploding stars or colliding galaxies. They may provide just the right kind of experimental verification needed to clinch Dr. Giovanelli’s cosmological theory.