We explain what the steady state theory is, the perfect cosmological principle and the evidence that seems to refute it.
What is the steady state theory?
It is known as The Theory of the Steady State, Theory of the Steady Universe or Model of the Steady Universe to a theory about the origin of the universe, proposed in the middle of the 20th century by British physicist and astronomer James Jeans.
The fundamental precept of this theory is that the decrease in density that the Universe experiences in its constant expansion, is complemented by the constant creation of new matter at an almost imperceptible rate (one proton per year for each km3 of universe).
This means that the universe has constant general properties, invariable in time and space, so its origin tends to infinity in the past, with an exponential rate of expansion. That is to say that this theory maintains that the Universe never had an origin, but was always as it is today.
This formulation arises from the so-called perfect cosmological principle: maintains that given a large enough scale, the Universe always presents the same properties no matter from what point or what specific portion we observe. And, also, from the application of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.
Later to be proposed by James Jeans, was revised in 1948 by specialists Fred Hoyle (United Kingdom), Thomas Gold (Austria) and Hermann-Bondi (Austro-British), among others. Today it is not considered a current physical modelbut part of the history of modern cosmology.
Importance of theory
This cosmological model is the main alternative theory with respect to the Big Bang Theory, which supposes that at some initial moment, the Universe was a single particle in which everything that exists was compressed, and that it all began with a gigantic explosion that drove the expansion of space-time.
While the stationary model was not without supporters at the time, and even Albert Einsten himself at the time subscribed it, today it is considered discarded. This is because the best observations of the distant universe show that it is a place in the process of change. For example, there are only quasars in remote regions.
In fact, discoveries about the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which was detected in 1964 and dated to about 13.7 billion years old, seem to prove the existence of an initial explosion.
Authors of the stationary universe theory
There are still scientists who hold the Stationary Universe Model as valid and oppose the Big Bang Theory. Chief among them is Jayant Narlikar (India, 1938), who is one of the most prominent astrophysicists in his country (and also a popular popular science fiction author).
Another of his supporters is C. Johan Masreliez (Sweden, 1939), theoretical physicist and inventor who contributed significantly to the emergence of Control Theory in the 1970s. His theories in this regard are set out in his text Cosmic expansion in scale (1999).
For his part, the Australian scientist David crawford presented in 2010 some supporting theories of the stationary model. His theories, along with those of Masreliez, are widely criticized especially for assuming that the reddening of the light of distant stars is due to a supposed “tired light” instead of a light coming from an object that is moving away.
There are other names to highlight, such as the theoretical physicist Roger penrose (England, 1931), who interpreted certain circular patterns in the Cosmic Microwave Background as evidence that there was no Big Bang, but that the Universe is immersed in a continuous circuit throughout the eons.