Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id IAA04396 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 31 Jan 2002 08:27:09 GMT Message-ID: <20020131082153.31311.qmail@web12302.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 08:21:53 +0000 (GMT) From: John Croft <jdcroft@yahoo.com> Subject: Photons before the matter-energy To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk In-Reply-To: <200201310608.GAA04184@alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Ted Dace asked
> Let me ask you this. If a theoretical "entity,"
> capable of vision in the early universe, had been
> looking around, what would this "eye" have seen?
Assuming our eing was not turned into plasma as a
result of the temperatures (greater than the surface
photosphere of the sun).... i.e. a completely
impossible "being" to have "eyes" but lets engage then
in the virtual world. OK?
> Ordinarily when we think of radiation, we imagine
> waves of photons traveling according to a particular
> frequency/wavelength. The higher the frequency
> the shorter the wavelength. Let's give our entity
> universal eyesight, so that it can detect everything
> from radio on up to gamma. What does it see?
> Is anything there?
Can you imagine being "inside" the solar photosphere,
with light being scattered every which way by the
excited complete ionization of all material
components. The solar photosphere is a zone a couple
of thousand kilometres thick. In the case of the big
bang, what we are talking about at before 300,000
years would be a zone 300,000 light years "thick". It
would be like being on the inside of a bright
lightfilled fog, coming at you at every wavelength.
Everything is there. Nothing is "not there".
When we see the Cosmic Microwave Background what we
are gazing at is the "edge" of this "fireball". After
that point in time the universe went transparent -
electrons were bound around the nuclei to make atoms,
and light was free to travel, uninterupted from the
"edge" to the COBE observer (or Penzias and Wilson's
"horn" at Bell Labs).
Does this help?
Regards
John
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