The faults of Stars

It going to be nice evening discussion over a cup of coffee at nearby suburb bistro. Zaid is eager to meet Dr Hawking, while a bit of nervous preparing all his notes, pen and recorder in order. For not being late, Zaid reached the coffee shop half an hour earlier and requested a cosy corner cushion sofa seat to be reserved. This going to be perfect spot, he thinks, flipping his hand written back and forth. As university student commencing course in cosmology and inter faith understanding, meeting Dr Hawking will spark some ideas about his famous discovery of quantum mechanic and its relation to cosmology. Zaid foresee the evening discussion would be laden with theoretical discussion, but really hope his guest could be casual as possible.

At sudden,  the rain start to pour outside heavily, made the evening darken and cosying even more. Zaid pray his guest would able to make it to the bistro, and he starts little bit worry. He had arrange this meeting a week earlier, and aware how hard to get into Dr Hawking busy schedule. If this going to be delay, it will took another week to be rearranged. Zaid looks solemnly stoop to his mobile phone as suspecting a call from his guest to tell the bad news.

‘Hi Zaid, am I late? My favourite seating spot.’ Zaid reflectively stood up and greet his guest with cordial smile and humbly saying, ‘Oh Doc, you are here, glad that you make it. Thanks for your trouble’. Zaid didn’t expect to receive his guest 10 minute earlier and saw Dr Hawking surfacely wet by the torrential falls outside. As Zaid calling up the orders for the evening treats, they both had comfortably seated and start the preamble to each other.

After being asked about findings on the new theory, Dr Hawing starts explaining with questions, ‘Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Did the universe have a beginning, and if so, what happened before, then where did the universe come from, and where is it going?’

Zaid aware that the question is not for him to answer. Dr Hawking was a person who would set up targets for someone to shot with his own answer, and Zaid attentively focus to his guest with eagerness to listen.  

‘Where does the difference between the past and the future come from, why do we remember the past but not the future’, Dr Hawking revealing the uneasiness of his earlier thoughts on the theory.

‘Before the 20th century it was thought that the universe had existed forever or had been created at some time in the past, more or less as we observe it today,  people found comfort then they thought that  they may grow old and die while  the universe was eternal and unchanging’.

Zaid jotted and highlights all essentials thoughts points and try to make sense everything his guest triggering. ‘But Dr, how do you explain that scientifically, I mean about the unchanging universe..’

‘When I was in high school, I learned that light from distant galaxies was shifted to the red. This meant that they were moving away from us and that the universe was expanding but at first I didn't believe it, a static universe seemed much more natural that could have existed and could continue to exist forever.’

Dr Hawking goes on further clarifying, ‘The expansion of the universe suggested the possibility that the universe had a beginning at some time in the past, the point at which the universe may have started out became known as the Big Bang. In an unchanging universe, one can imagine that God created the Universe, at literally any time in the past.  On the other hand if the universe is expanding there may be physical reasons why there had to be a beginning . And for me,   expanding universe doesn’t  mean to preclude a creator, but it does place limits the  knowledge on when and how He might had carried out His job.

‘So meaning that you are more favour of expanding universe, and passionately to unravel the beginning and the ending of universe using quantum mechanic theory?’ Zaid asked while his hand rapidly scribbling something on his note pad.

‘I felt that there were several of theoretical physics I might study at Cambridge, one was cosmology, the study of the very large,the other was elementary particles, the study of the very small.  However I thought that elementary particles were less attractive because there was no proper theory. All they could do was arrange the particles in families. Then cosmology on the other hand, there was a well-defined theory Einstein's general theory of relativity. I wanted to understand how the universe began and Einstein's theory of general relativity showed that the universe was expanding but there was no answer to the crucial question,  must there have been a big bang a beginning the time ? Then in my third year at Cambridge colleagues, Penrose made his discovery about a death of stars.

‘I heard about the death of stars that make the reason how black hole is formed, right?’ Zaid investigating further.

‘Yup, in the long history of the universe, many stars must have burned up their nuclear fuel and collapsed on themselves to the number of black holes. We also have evidence that there is a very large black hole at the centre of our own galaxy. Penrose proved that a dying star collapsing under its own gravity eventually shrinks to a singularity,  a point of infinite density and zero size.  I realized that if I reversed the direction of time so that the collapse became an expansion, I could prove that the universe had a beginning.’

Zaid understandably nodded to Dr Hawking with curious mind. Zaid then try to retrieve his conceptual understanding, ‘As some massive star contracts and  becomes so strong that light can no longer escape the return from which nothing can escape, that’s why we called them  a black hole as what Dante defined ‘the entrance to hell’..

Dr Hawking smiles showing his animosity, ‘If you were watching an astronaut to jump into a black hole at some time, let say 12 o'clock. He would cross the event horizon and enter the black hole but no matter how long you waited,  you will never see the astronauts watch reach 12 o'clock. Instead each second on the watch will appear to take longer and longer. Until the last second before midnight, the time will take forever. I started to think about black holes and realized that the area of the event horizon must always increase with time and quantify by entropy, which measures the degree of disorder of a system.’

Dr Hawking sipped his warm coffee as the evening getting cold as the rains subside outside the bistro. Zaid having thought the evening meet has turn to into physic cosmology lecture. Regaining the momentum of the discussion, Zaid then asked. ‘Then how you relate the all this with general relativity, quantum mechanic , I kind a lost there..’

General relativity is what is called a classical theory. It predicts a single definite path for each particle, but according to quantum mechanics there is an element of chance or uncertainty. A particle does not have just a single path through space and time instead there is an uncertainty principle according to which both the exact position and velocity of a particle can never be known. I began investigating the effect one of mechanics might have on particles near a black hole. I found that particles could escape from a black hole. At first I didn't believe it, but when I redid the calculations I couldn't get the effect. I finally convinced myself that black holes radiate when I found a mechanism through which this could happen according to quantum mechanics. Space is filled with virtual particles and antiparticles that are constantly materializing in pairs. When presence to black hole, one member of a pair of virtual particles may fall into the hole leaving the other member without a partner. Particle appears at the radiation emitted by the black made black holes not eternal. They evaporate away at an increasing rate until they vanish in a gigantic explosion.

‘In another words, here to say that Einstein’s general relativity theory doesn’t apply ?’, Zaid intervened.

Quantum mechanics has allowed particles and radiation to escape from the ultimate prison of black hole, Einstein never accepted one of mechanics because of its element of chance and uncertainty. He said God does not play dice, that seems that Einstein was doubly wrong, the quantum effects of black holes suggest that not only does God play dice but he sometimes throws them where they cannot seen’ , ‘Dr hawking expounds with grin.

‘I guess your discovery was particularly concerned on the radiation effect ’, Zaid make an assuming remarks.

‘Yes, black hole radiation has shown us that gravitational collapse does not as final. If one falls into a black hole he will be returned to the rest of the universe in the form of radiation thus,  in a sense the astronaut will be recycled where  the big bang as the beginning’.

Zaid meticulously getting his writing neatly and readable. He still got many issue to shoot to his guest. He carefully link his question into contextual link ‘So Dr where does the difference between the

past and the future come to view ?’

The laws of science do not distinguish between the past and the future, yet there is a big difference between the both. In ordinary life, you may see a cup of tea fall off a table and break into pieces on the floor. But you will never see the cup gather itself back together and jump back on the table. The increase of disorder or entropy is what distinguishes the past from the future giving a direction to time. I began to wonder what would happen when the universe stopped expanding and began to contract. Would we see broken cups gathered themselves together off the floor and jump back onto the table. To me, the universe had a return to a smooth and ordered state. If this were so, time would go backwards when the universe began to collapse, people in the contracting phase would live their lives backward they would die before they were born and get younger as the universe got small again and  eventually they would return to the womb.

Zaid wondered how the mind this scientist work, how those calculations were computed in his mind with massive physic and mathematical theories. Sometimes Zaid guess this would not make sense to any ordinary people with ordinary mind. But for Dr Hawking, the intricacies were scientifically explained and proved. It took a lots of imaginary by looking beyond the shinning stars.

Do you been criticized on all this thought ?’, Zaid inquiries blatantly.

Very much,  by myself , sometimes I guess I had made a mistake. I had been using too simple a model of the Universe. Time will not reverse direction. When the universe begins to contract people will continue to get older,   so it is no good waiting until the universe collapses to return to our youth. In real time, the time in which we live the universe has two possible destinies, that may continue to expand forever, or it may recollapse and come to an end at the Big Crunch. It would be rather like the Big Bang but in reverse. I now believe that the universe will come to an end at the Big Crunch. But you see, whatever happens 10 billion years from now, I don't expect to be around to be proved wrong…’

They both bursts into laugh, Zaid entertained by his guest intellectual sense of humour. Zaid remember  Einstein once asked the question  about  how much choice the plot  in constructing the universe, if Dr Hawking  proposal  is correct,  then he had no freedom at all to choose how the universe began .He would only have had the freedom to choose the laws a universe evade. However, he may not have been all that much of a choice. There may well be only one unified theory that allows for the existence of structures as complicated as human beings. Zaid sternly belief that we can investigate the laws of the universe and start to learn the nature of God.

As the nights and bistro getting dimmed, they both greeted each other. Zaid feel utmost thankful for the fruitful evening, and lead Dr Hawking to his car outside the freezing weather. As the old Ford, drove away and getting out of sight, Zaid gaze upward to the brightening stars, as his mind still resounding the last words from Dr Hawking that evening, ‘If we do discover a complete theory of the universe that should be understandable in broad principle by everyone, we all be able to  discuss of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, that would be the ultimate triumph of human reason, for then we would know the mind of God.