Plasma cosmology

Plasma cosmology is a way of thinking about the universe that focuses on the behavior of ionized gases and plasmas. Unlike most scientists today, who believe that gravity is the main force shaping the universe, plasma cosmology suggests that plasmas play a much bigger role in how stars, galaxies, and other big structures form and change.

The idea started in the 1960s and 1970s with scientists Hannes Alfvén and Oskar Klein. They believed that matter and antimatter exist in equal amounts across the universe, and that the universe has always existed rather than beginning with a Big Bang. They thought the universe expands because matter and antimatter are constantly destroying each other.

Most cosmologists and astrophysicists do not support plasma cosmology because it does not fit with what we observe in space as well as the Big Bang model does. Very few research papers about plasma cosmology have been published since the mid-1990s. Some people use the term "plasma universe" to describe the same idea. Plasma cosmology is different from a group of pseudoscientific ideas called the Electric Universe, which incorrectly claim that electric currents power stars like light bulbs, ignoring the well-known science that shows stars shine because of nuclear fusion.

Alfvén–Klein cosmology

In the 1960s, a scientist named Hannes Alfvén, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1970, introduced an idea about how the universe works. He believed that special gases called plasmas play a big role in shaping the universe. Alfvén used what we learn from small lab experiments to guess what might happen on huge scales in space.

With another scientist, Oskar Klein, they created a model called Alfvén–Klein cosmology. In this model, the universe has equal amounts of normal matter and antimatter. These two types don’t mix well, and where they meet, they create energy and light.Alfvén thought these meetings could explain why the universe seems to be spreading out and why we see certain kinds of high-energy lights from space. However, other scientists later pointed out problems with this idea, saying it didn’t match what we actually see in the sky, like the even warmth left over from the early universe.

Plasma cosmology and the study of galaxies

Hannes Alfvén believed that plasma and electromagnetic forces were very important in the universe, possibly even more so than gravity, especially when dealing with charged particles in space. He thought these forces could help pull together clouds of gas and dust to form new stars.

Later, Alfvén and Anthony Peratt suggested that plasma physics could explain many mysteries in the study of stars and galaxies. Peratt showed through experiments and computer simulations that plasma could form shapes similar to galaxies. He suggested that galaxies might form when plasma filaments come together and also proposed ways to explain certain bright objects in space without needing huge black holes at their centers.

Comparison with mainstream astrophysics

Standard astronomical modeling uses gravity as a key force to explain how stars, galaxies, and other large structures form and move. It relies on ideas from Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and the orbits described by Keplerian motion. It also uses information from high-energy astronomy and particle physics in cosmology to understand energetic events in space.

Some people who support plasma cosmology think that electric forces in plasmas are just as important as gravity in shaping the universe. They suggest these forces might explain how galaxies change over time and why some parts of galaxies spin faster than expected. However, most scientists find that the current evidence, especially from the cosmic microwave background radiation, strongly supports the standard Big Bang model rather than plasma cosmology.

References and notes

This section contains references and notes, which are used to provide sources for the information in the article. Since these details are meant for researchers and are not necessary for a younger audience, they are omitted here.