If I understand the big bang theory correctly our whole universe was in a hot dense state. And then suddenly, rapid expansion happened where everything expanded outwards presumably from the singularity. We know for a fact that the universe is expaning and has been expanding since it began. So, theoretically if we go backwards in time things were closer together. The more further back we go, the more closer together things were. We should eventually reach a point where everything was one, or where everything was none (depending on how you look at it). This point should be the center of the universe since everything expanded from it. But after doing a bit of research I have discovered that there is no center to the universe. Please explain to me how this is possible.
Thank you!
In: Physics
Here’s a fun way to look at it: the big bang is the center of the universe.
Imagine a 2D flat surface, expanding through a 3D space. A balloon being inflated, basically. What’s the center of that universe? It’s not a place *on* the balloon, it’s a place inside the balloon. But a 2D creature living on the balloon’s surface (an ant, let’s say) can’t see that spot, it’s not part of the 2D surface he inhabits. If you had to describe that spot to him, you’d describe it as the point where his universe began expanding. This makes sense, because the radial (inward/outward) direction is analogous to time for the ant – “outward” from the balloon’s surface is his future, and “inward” is his past.
You can model our 3D universe expanding through time the same way. There’s no spot in the 3D universe we inhabit that we can point to and describe as the center, but you can imagine that from the perspective of a hypothetical 4D viewer, the closest it has to a “center” is the place in spacetime where it began expanding – the big bang.
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