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Galaxy M106 photographed by the Hubble telescope Alamy Stock Photo

The universe may not have originated with the Big Bang, new study reveals

Researchers said the theory works within the principles of quantum mechanics and could be tested scientifically.

THE UNIVERSE MAY not have started with the Big Bang, but instead “bounced” out of a massive black hole formed within a larger “parent” universe, according to a new scientific paper.

Professor Enrique Gaztanaga, from the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, said that the current Big Bang theory was problematic as the laws of physics “broke down” when used to explain it.

His new explanation, published in the journal Physical Review D, suggests that the Universe was formed as a result of a gravitational collapse in a larger universe which generated a massive black hole leading to a rebound or “bounce” causing our universe to emerge.

Professor Gaztanaga said: “The Big Bang model begins with a point of infinite density where the laws of physics break down.

“This is a deep theoretical problem that suggests the beginning of the Universe is not fully understood.

“We’ve questioned that model and tackled questions from a different angle – by looking inward instead of outward.

“Instead of starting with an expanding universe and asking how it began, we considered what happens when an over-density of matter collapses under gravity.”

Prof Gaztanaga explained that the theory developed by his team of researchers worked within the principles of quantum mechanics and the model could be tested scientifically.

He said: “We’ve shown that gravitational collapse does not have to end in a singularity and found that a collapsing cloud of matter can reach a high-density state and then bounce, rebounding outward into a new expanding phase.

“Crucially, this bounce occurs entirely within the framework of general relativity, combined with the basic principles of quantum mechanics. What emerges on the other side of the bounce is a universe remarkably like our own.

“Even more surprisingly, the rebound naturally produces a phase of accelerated expansion driven not by a hypothetical field but by the physics of the bounce itself.

“We now have a fully worked-out solution that shows the bounce is not only possible – it’s inevitable under the right conditions.

“One of the strengths of this model is that it makes predictions that can be thoroughly tested. And what’s more, this new model has also revealed that the Universe is slightly curved, like the surface of the Earth.”

He added: “Furthermore, it could also shed new light on other deep mysteries in our understanding of the early universe, such as the origin of supermassive black holes, the nature of dark matter, or the formation and evolution of galaxies.”

Professor Gaztanaga, who is the science co-ordinator for the ARRAKIHS ESA space mission, said that the four wide-angle telescopes on the satellite could help confirm the theory through its ability to detect ultra-low surface brightness structures in the outskirts of galaxies, which he explained were essential for studying how galaxies grow and evolve.

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:12 PM

    Here’s the paper:

    Gravitational bounce from the quantum exclusion principle

    Gaztañaga, E., Kumar, K.S., Pradhan, S. and Gabler, M. 2025. Gravitational bounce from the quantum exclusion principle. Physical Review D, 111, 103537, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.103537.

    In English

    Essentially, they propose that every black hole could be a gateway to a new, expanding universe (not that we could ever visit it).

    Normally, when we think of a massive star collapsing under its own gravity to form a black hole, we imagine this continues until it creates an infinitely dense point called a singularity. But physicists hate singularities as mathematically it does not make sense, it’s like dividing by zero on a calculator.

    So, instead, this model suggests something very different. Instead of a singularity, they Imagined a huge, round cloud of matter collapsing on itself. As it gets squeezed tighter and tighter, it doesn’t crush down to infinity. Instead, thanks to rules from quantum physics (specifically the quantum exclusion principle, which prevents particles from occupying the exact same space), it hits a limit.

    Once the collapse reaches this limit, its maximum possible density, the matter bounces. This bounce is incredibly powerful, triggering a period of superfast, exponential expansion. This process is very similar to inflation, the theory of how our own universe formed, which we believe is confirmed by observations, when expanded rapidly in the first moments of its existence (from a billion times smaller than a single proton, to about 10 centimetres to 1 meter across). Inflation helps explain many observations about the early universe e.g. why the Cosmic Background Radiation, the warm glow of the Big Bang, is so uniform, why here are no magnetic monopoles etc.

    Essentially, it means there’s a universe inside every black hole.

    This also helps solve why the universe is suitable for life. The birth of the universe was not a once off event, not luck.

    Rather, according to this theory, there are infinite many universes, each with subtly different physics. Our one, and a small proportion of others, have physics tuned for life. Of course, things would be a bit different in other universes suitable for life, like interdimensional cable:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2vWoQDdWU4

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    Mute Maire Hicks
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:34 PM

    @David Jordan: thank you for explaining it in simple English, it’s something I think we all wonder about, I sometimes think is each galaxy an alternative reality to our own.

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Jun 10th 2025, 4:00 PM

    @David Jordan: This elevates Event Horizon as one of the most important movies of our time imo ; )

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    Mute seamus
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    Jun 10th 2025, 8:26 PM

    @David Jordan: Thanks D.

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    Mute Patrick Westman
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    Jun 10th 2025, 1:36 PM

    Everyone knows that God created the world in six days.

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    Mute Andrew Martin
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    Jun 10th 2025, 1:48 PM

    @Ranti Bless – Child of Drague Dublin: they/them

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:23 PM

    @Patrick Westman: Which God(s)? Brahma, who created the universe from a lotus that sprang from Vishnu’s navel? Or Ymir, the primordial giant that gods Odin, Vili, and Vé killed and fashioned the world from his body? Or was it Izanagi and Izanami, the primordial couple who created the Japanese islands and gods?

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    Mute Patrick Westman
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:40 PM

    @David Jordan: All will be revealed. Seek and you shall find.

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    Mute Brendan O'Brien
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:43 PM

    @David Jordan: All more elegant interpretations of equations, potentially, than ‘Big Bang’ or ‘Big Bounce’.

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    Mute Ulick
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    Jun 10th 2025, 3:17 PM

    @Andrew Martin: it.

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    Mute Eamon
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    Jun 10th 2025, 3:36 PM

    @Ranti Bless – Child of Drague Dublin: And she’s black.

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Jun 10th 2025, 3:44 PM

    @Patrick Westman: “Seek and you shall find.”

    My response to this:

    “If I take a lamp, and shine it towards the wall, a bright spot will appear on the wall. The lamp is our search for truth, for understanding. Too often, we assume that the light on the wall is God. But the light is not the goal of the search. It is the result of the search. The more intense the search, the brighter the light on the wall. The brighter the light on the wall, the greater the sense of revelation upon seeing it. Similarly, someone who does not search, who does not bring a lantern with him, sees nothing.”

    “What we perceive as God, is merely the by-product of our search for God. It may simply be an appreciation of the light, put and unblemished, not understanding that it comes from us. Sometimes we stand in front of the light and assume we are the centre of the universe – God looks astonishingly like we do. Or we turn to look at our shadow – and assume that all is darkness. If we allow ourselves to get in the way, we defeat the purpose. Which is to use the light of our search to illuminate the wall in all its beauty and in all its flaws, and in so doing better understand the world around us”.

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    Mute barry williams
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    Jun 10th 2025, 4:03 PM

    @Patrick Westman: nonsense.. everyone’s knows there’s no way anyone’s doing a full day on a Saturday sure the taxman would take most of it

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    Mute Patrick Westman
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    Jun 10th 2025, 4:08 PM

    @barry williams: On Saturdays many are called but few get up.

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    Mute JB Software
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    Jun 10th 2025, 1:38 PM

    The flat universers will be up in arms over the curved universe comment in the report.

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    Mute TL55
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:30 PM

    @JB Software: It’s spiral galaxy in the photo so of course they’ll be up in arms. They’d never survive the supermassive black hole at the centre.

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    Mute Tasty k
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    Jun 10th 2025, 1:48 PM

    And how did the parent universe come into being?

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    Mute Don Johnson
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:21 PM

    @Tasty k: Baby Jebus made it

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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Jun 10th 2025, 3:59 PM

    @Tasty k: Nobody knows tbf… a fact that has terrified most of humanity since the beginning of our existence and for most today even.

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    Mute barry williams
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    Jun 10th 2025, 4:04 PM

    @Don Johnson: baby jebus is my favourite jebus

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    Mute Trevor Donoghue
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    Jun 10th 2025, 9:26 PM

    @Tasty k: Another REALLY BIG universe birthed it. And now we are into your fat mama paradox situation

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    Mute Paul O'Mahoney
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    Jun 10th 2025, 1:58 PM

    Old news, once Webb was operational it was observing galaxies that shouldn’t be there. And the big bang theory as it stands was simply maths working backwards. And when the oberservable universe was expanding faster than what the theory proposed it was only a matter , pardon the pun, that the big bang theory was questioned. And we can only see 3% of it, the rest is essentially unknown to us.

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    Mute Ollie Fitzpatrick
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    Jun 10th 2025, 1:42 PM

    It may not have originated with a big bang……but it will go in a big bang if the Fanta Fuhrer, Putler, Kim, etc, have their way!!!

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    Mute Kieran Woods
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    Jun 10th 2025, 1:50 PM

    @Ollie Fitzpatrick: I think when the last 5 ( Criminal, War, Bomber, Orange and Genocide ) didn’t do it, we are probably safe enough.

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    Mute George Bowling
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    Jun 10th 2025, 1:52 PM

    @Ollie Fitzpatrick: has anyone ever conducted a study to try to properly understand why the phrases “adopting safe but popular political positions in relation to foreign countries” and “having a personality” are both spelled and pronounced differently?

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:11 PM

    Here’s the paper:

    Gravitational bounce from the quantum exclusion principle

    Gaztañaga, E., Kumar, K.S., Pradhan, S. and Gabler, M. 2025. Gravitational bounce from the quantum exclusion principle. Physical Review D, 111, 103537, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.103537.

    Abstract

    We investigate the fully relativistic spherical collapse model of a uniform distribution of mass

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    Mute Paul O'Mahoney
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:15 PM

    @David Jordan: I still think Einsteins theories will be valid but rather than being the answer will just be a piece of a bigger Jigsaw .

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    Mute P. J.
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    Jun 10th 2025, 1:35 PM

    I’m telling ya, the sky fairy sorted it all in 7 days!!!

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    Mute Tasty k
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    Jun 10th 2025, 1:47 PM

    @P. J.: Give him/her/it a rest!

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    Mute Me Me
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:02 PM

    @P. J.: 6 days.

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    Mute Paul O'Mahoney
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:04 PM

    @P. J.: Well something did, and I don’t think it was anything human. I view God as the universe as it can’t lose energy and when one dies, that energy simply goes back into the universe and rebalances the system. And those who have passed are still around……humanity has to use words to describe something even if words can’t describe it.

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    Mute James Lee
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    Jun 10th 2025, 3:30 PM

    @Paul O’Mahoney: Interesting comment.

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:50 PM

    So, basically, no one has a clue how the universe originated or why! Is it possible that it’s sheer intellectual hubris to believe we’ll ever be able to figure it out? Maybe as a species, we’re not intelligent enough to deal with the complexities involved. As it is, we’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to understanding the nature of reality. That, of course, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying! Who knows, at some future time, we may suddenly have an evolutionary intellectual big bang, and what once seemed complex becomes mundane…

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    Mute Paul O'Mahoney
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    Jun 10th 2025, 3:28 PM

    @William Tallon: Essentially yes. But that’s the beauty people say ” science doesn’t know everything ” ….”of course it doesn’t otherwise it would stop” Daragh O Brien……and of course the view is we may don’t actually exist. Try explaining that to a lad in a pub…

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    Mute Stanley Marsh
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    Jun 10th 2025, 4:31 PM

    @William Tallon: I think, as this paper shows, many people have many clues.

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    Mute Conor McK
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    Jun 10th 2025, 3:52 PM

    It’s universes all the way down

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    Mute Fiona
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    Jun 10th 2025, 1:59 PM

    It originated when god lit one of his farts (if the theologically accurate Family Guy is anything to go by)

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    Mute Paul O'Mahoney
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:12 PM

    @Fiona: Everything is plausible now…which is great

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    Mute Setanta O'Toole
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:19 PM
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    Mute Will Q
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    Jun 10th 2025, 2:08 PM

    Hence The big bang theory..as theory is not fact.
    Yours faithfully
    Mr S Cooper..

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    Mute R kelly
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    Jun 10th 2025, 5:29 PM

    Just goes to show…. scientists really haven’t got a clue either, no more than the rest of us….I wonder how much it cost for them to say ‘ I don’t know “

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    Mute damien leen
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    Jun 10th 2025, 4:18 PM

    Kinda funny that the best the scientific community can come with is the big bang theory. Makes the whole God making it all in 6 data look almost believable. Guess they can alwaya fall back on the old theory part.

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    Mute Joe Soap
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    Jun 10th 2025, 11:17 PM

    More mystery : we humans are not from this earth . You’ve only got to look around you .
    Nothing like us on earth .

    Creature all , kill to eat .
    Look at us wars everywhere ,
    Now look ! children killing for amusement it would appear .
    Humans Shooting up schools
    Driving cars into crowds.
    Our leader in heaven says love your enemy .
    As he drives st Nicholas down to hell.

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    Mute Mick Hanna
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    Jun 11th 2025, 12:33 AM

    @Joe Soap: And still praying to the same old…same old! But even more Stupidly…Voting for the same old same old! Amen!

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    Mute Mike B
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    Jun 11th 2025, 1:18 AM

    @Joe Soap: there is so much trauma and manipulation going on in the world that it is a perpetual loop of war and destruction humanity seems unable to learn from its mistakes

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    Mute Denis Hourihane
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    Jun 11th 2025, 7:59 AM

    Another “theory”, to debunk the previous expert derived theory that has been trusted and revered for decades. Really, who’s going to question or contradict them, or indeed, does anybody really know at all ?
    My theory is that they’re all guessing, at the events of so long ago, that it’s almost irrelevant in today’s world.

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