Astronomical history was written 100 years ago: In the October issue, bild der wissenschaft reports on how Alexander Friedmann first discovered the dynamics of space and what the findings still mean today. His equations, which Einstein initially doubted, are still part of the foundation of the Standard Model of cosmology. The Big Bang, which Friedmann first encountered in a fundamental way, is still a tricky research topic in astrophysics, as the title story suggests.
We want to know and understand - human curiosity does not stop at the limits of imagination: Scientists who deal with the mysteries of astrophysics and the cosmos push forward. What was previously reserved for myths and religions, they try to fathom by means of logic and calculation. As part of the cover story “From the Big Bang to Eternity”, bild der wissenschaft is now putting a pioneer of the modern view of the universe in the limelight: the Russian physicist Alexander Friedmann (1888 to 1925). The more precise ideas of a dynamic universe only gradually prevailed and through the cooperation of different minds, but Friedmann played an incendiary role.
A pioneer in focus
In the first article of the three-part title story, bdw astronomy expert Rüdiger Vaas reports on the story behind the groundbreaking scientific developments in the turbulent era of the early 20th century. From 1917, Einstein's General Theory of Relativity formed a basis for Friedmann's work. Using equations, he finally came to the conclusion that this theory can describe both finite and infinitely large universes that are not static. Instead, development became apparent: the universe appeared dynamic. In addition, in contrast to the ideas of physics at the time, Friedmann concluded that space can have a beginning and explored the various possibilities of the space-time structure and development of the universe.
In the article "Einstein's Greatest Mistake", Vaas then reports on how Friedmann initially met with great resistance when he published his approaches in 1922. Einstein also initially doubted the validity of Friedmann's equations and misjudged the scope of his own general theory of relativity. Vaas reports how this eventually changed and how the two Friedmann equations and the concept of dynamics finally became a basis of today's science of the universe: the current standard cosmological model is also characterized by these equations.
Up to date to this day
In the third sub-article, Vaas makes it clear that the equations derived by Friedmann from the general theory of relativity are still relevant: What they could mean is still a tricky topic in cosmology today. Astronomers are faced with the question of which of the infinite number of mathematical models could reasonably describe our universe realistically. One approach is the idea of a "primal impact" instead of a big bang, reports Vaas: Perhaps the universe did not form from an inexplicable zero point in space-time, but existed forever. The Big Bang would then have been a minimum in which a contracting universe swung back, only to immediately expand again. In other words, perhaps space collapsed in on itself from a beginningless past, crushing everything and beginning anew. The theory of relativity allows for such cosmological models without the Big Bang singularity, reports Vaas in the article "The primal swing".
You will find the cover story "From the Big Bang to Eternity" in the October issue of bild der wissenschaft, which will be available in stores from September 20th.