Q&A: Could the Big Bang Have Happened on Its Own?
Could the Big Bang Have Happened on Its Own?
Question
Hello Rabbi Michael,
I’ve heard on several occasions that when believers in creation argue that even if there was a Big Bang, there still had to be someone who created the matter it consisted of and the explosion itself, physicists respond that according to quantum theory matter can be created out of nothing, and that an explosion would then be expected as well.
I didn’t understand how matter is created out of nothing according to quantum theory. What I’ve somewhat heard is that particles change their form, or that there is some relation between matter and antimatter that I don’t really understand. But does creation out of nothing actually exist?
What does the Rabbi think about their claim itself?
Thank you
Answer
In quantum theory, it is commonly thought that particles are indeed created from the vacuum state (the vacuum state is a quantum state of the world). But that does not necessarily mean that matter can be created out of nothing, since the very quantum nature of the world already means that it has some kind of nature—that is, that it is not simply empty. The fact is that this coming-into-being obeys the conservation laws (the total charge is 0, etc.). So this is not a refutation of the claim that someone had to create the universe, because even if it was created from the vacuum, someone is still responsible for the universe’s quantum nature and for the laws that govern it.
By the way, it is not at all expected that there will be an explosion—at most, it is possible.
There are 3 states (in language): nothing, potential, and something.
The state of nothing does not exist, and it makes no sense to say that something was created from it, because it is not there, so there is no “from it.”
Things are created from potential.
The Big Bang was created from potential.
The question then becomes: what is the nature of that potential, and did something create it, or is that simply what exists?
For such fundamental questions, no fully satisfying answer is possible, because the concept of potential runs counter to the basis of our logical thinking. Other answers that are also unsatisfying may be possible, but it is not clear what they mean.