Tomatoes Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Here is what I have so far, looking for others to help me add on. Low Entropy Start: Roger Penrose of Oxford University writes about the way in which the universe had to start with low entropy to have galaxies, stars and life. To have this state, and the resultant second law of thermodynamics, the ‘Creator’ had to aim for what is called a certain volume of ‘phase space’ This aim would have to have been accurate to 1 part in 10^10^(123). [1] The Cosmological Constant, Lambda: The Cosmological Constant is causing the universe to expand at an accelerating rate, such that if the cosmological constant were larger by 1 part in 10^120 it would have prevented stars and galaxies from forming. [2] Mass Density of the Universe: In order to evolve in a life-sustaining manner, the universe must have maintained an extremely precise overall density. The precision of density must have been so great that a change of one part in 10^15 (i.e. 0.0000000000001%) would have resulted in a collapse, or big crunch, occurring far too early for life to have developed, or there would have been an expansion so rapid that no stars, galaxies or life could have formed. [3] Neutron-to-Proton Mass Ratio: The neutron is 1.00137841870 times heavier than the proton, which is what allows it to decay into a proton, electron and neutrino—a process that determined the relative abundances of hydrogen and helium after the big bang and gave us a universe dominated by hydrogen. If the neutron-to-proton mass ratio were even slightly different, we would be living in a very different universe: one, perhaps, with far too much helium, in which stars would have burned out too quickly for life to evolve, or one in which protons decayed into neutrons rather than the other way around, leaving the universe without atoms. So, in fact, we wouldn’t be living here at all—we wouldn’t exist. [4] Ratio of the Electron to the Proton Mass: If electrons were slightly more massive, then electrons and protons would be disposed to bond and form neutrons, thus disrupting the formation of heavy elements. [5] Strong Force: If the strong nuclear force were 2% stronger than it is, di-protons would be stable and hydrogen would fuse into them instead of deuterium and helium. This would drastically alter the physics of stars, and presumably preclude the existence of life. The existence of the di-proton would short-circuit the slow fusion of hydrogen into deuterium. Hydrogen would fuse so easily that it is likely that all of the Universe's hydrogen would be consumed in the first few minutes after the Big Bang. If it was -5% weaker the proton & neutron would not stick to form deuterium, an essential step in the fusion of helium. This would prevent the formation of stable, long lived stars like the sun. [6] Weak Force: The weak nuclear force is involved in the radioactive decay of some particles, including the transmutation of protons to neutrons. It controlled the ratio of protons to neutrons in the life of the universe, and hence the ratio of hydrogen to helium. If it was only slightly weaker, all hydrogen would have become helium and we could have no water; if only slightly greater, there would be only hydrogen and no helium, which was necessary to later produce the more complex elements necessary for life. [7] Gravitational Force: The strength of gravity is important: if it were slightly stronger, stellar matter would bind more strongly and stars would use their nuclear fuel much faster. If gravity were slightly weaker, nuclear fusion would never ignite in stars and many of the elements needed for life would never form. [8] Electromagnetic Force: If greater: Chemical bonding would be disrupted; elements more massive than boron would be unstable to fission. If lesser: Chemical bonding would be insufficient for life chemistry. [9] Ratio of the strong and electromagnetic force: The formation of stable nuclei depends on the ratio of the strong and electromagnetic forces - the protons in a nucleus repel each other, but the strong force overcomes this repulsion. A small change (less than 1%) in their relative strengths would allow the electromagnetic force to overcome the strong force, and atoms could not exist. [10] Ratio of the Electromagnetic force to Gravity: Gravity is about 10^39 times weaker than electromagnetism. If it were only 1033 times weaker, stars would be billions of times less massive and burn a million times faster - and life and the universe as we know it could not exist. [11] Fine structure constant: If the fine structure constant was off by 1% it would prevent the triple alpha process from forming carbon in stars. This fortunate alignment of the strengths of the electromagnetic force and the strong force provides for this process. Without it, stars would be unable to produce elements beyond helium. There would be no carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc, required for life. [12] Ratio Matter/anti-matter: At the beginning of the universe there was matter and anti-matter. If the amounts of each had been exactly the same then they would have canceled each other out, leaving just energy in the form of photons. The Russian physicist Andrei Sakharov showed that matter and anti-matter are not precise mirror images of each other. There is a very slight asymmetry which favors matter over anti-matter. This difference is absolutely crucial and is only about one part in a billion. We, and all the rest of matter in the universe, only exist because of this one in a billion difference. As Martin Rees, former Astronomer Royal, writes in his book ‘Our Cosmic Habitat’, referring to this fact, “we owe our existence to a difference in the ninth decimal place.” [13] Resonance energy of carbon: The carbon that is in you and me was manufactured in some star prior to the formation of the solar system. We are literally made of star dust. Each carbon nucleus (six protons and six neutrons) is made from three nuclei of helium within stars. Astrophysicists Hoyle and Salpeter worked out that this process of forming carbon works only because of a strange feature: a mode of vibration or resonance with a very specific energy. If this was changed by more than 1% either way then there would be no carbon to make life. Hoyle confessed that it looked as if a ‘super intellect has monkeyed with physics as well as with chemistry and biology’ and that ‘there were no blind forces in nature worth talking about’ [14] [1] Penrose, Roger. 1989. The Emperor’s New Mind. Oxford University Press. P. 344 [2] Susskind2005, pg. 80-82 [3] Specific numbers were taken from Appendix A in John Polkinghorne and Nicholas Beale, Questions of Truth (Louisville, KY[0]: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009) [4] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/blog/tag/fine-tuned-universe/ [5] Hogan, 2006; Damour & Donoghue, 2008 [6] Paul Davies, The Accidental Universe, Cambridge University Press, p70-71 [7] http://www.is-there-a-god.info/clues/designfacts.shtml [8] http://library.thinkquest.org/27930/forces.htm [9] http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/designun.html [10] http://library.thinkquest.org/27930/forces.htm [11] Patrick Glynn, God the Evidence p22 [12] http://rareuniverse.org/evidence_for_creation/finetuned.html [13] Rees, Martin. Our Cosmic Habitat. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson [14] Hoyle, F. Annual Reviews of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 20. P. 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imatfaal Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 ! Moderator Note thread lock pending sock-puppet investigation. there is a thread in religion on this very topic http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/69816-the-fine-tuning-argument-is-dead/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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