The original Steady State Theory asserts that although the universe is expanding, it nevertheless does not change its appearance over time (the perfect cosmological principle); the universe has no beginning and no end. This required that matter be continually created in order to keep the universe’s density from decreasing.
If we assume no energy can be added or subtracted from the Universe then we might consider a Steady State model. However, this must allow for the observation of a local Big Bang!
It has been shown that Dark Energy seems to appear mysteriously from the vacuum of space along with a sea of virtual particles. At the other end of the scale lie Black Holes that form when matter exceeds certain mass and density criteria. They represent “exit doors” from which there is no return or any form of communication apart from the presence of an intense gravitational field.
So extremes of density orchestrate the flow of Energies in and out of our familiar 3-D space. This leads to the obvious idea of a multidimensional Universe.
Energy could manifest from the Higher Dimensions in areas of low density as Dark Energy. This could then be transmuted into Dark Matter which in turn becomes electromagnetic Energy with the potential to create ” frozen light” better known as matter.
At the time of writing (2022) Dark Energy represents around 68%, Dark Matter 27%, ordinary matter about 5% and electromagnetic photons a mere 0.005%. It is generally thought that in the early stages of the Big Bang that photon energy far outweighed ordinary matter.
There is much evidence to support the Big Bang theory but what if it was only a local event in an infinite Universe? We would only be observing the “ripples” in our neighbourhood. In time we might detect the presence of other expansions that would be sending stars and galaxies hurtling towards us at great speeds.
The galaxies we presently detect are rushing apart at ever increasing velocities and creating regions with less and less density. There might be a critical value that leads to yet another local Big Bang.
Our knowledge is growing exponentially and our discoveries continue to be amazing. It is therefore important, as scientists, to keep an open mind and never cease to ponder, “What if?”