If every part of the universe has aged differently owing to time running differently for each part, why do we say the universe is 13.8 billion years old?

Question

For some parts relative to us, only a billion years would have passed, for others maybe 20?

In: Physics

Answer 1

The oldest anything in the universe could be is 13.8 billion years old. This would be a hypothetical object that came into existence at the big bang and has been stationary (called comoving) relative to the cosmic microwave background for its entire existence. You are correct that there is no universal time for the whole universe, and any reference frame is valid, but using the CMB makes the most sense since it’s the leftover radiation from the big bang.

It’s also important to note that most parts of the universe are pretty close to being comoving with the CMB, so most of the universe is pretty close to this age. The only places where you’d expect a large difference in the measure of elapsed time would be close to massive objects like black holes and things that have been moving at relativistic speeds for most of the existence of the universe.