Abstract
The visible mass of the observable universe agrees with that needed for a flat cosmos, and the reason for this is not known. It is shown that this can be explained by modelling the Hubble volume as a black hole that emits Hawking radiation inwards, disallowing wavelengths that do not fit exactly into the Hubble diameter, since partial waves would allow an inference of what lies outside the horizon. This model of “horizon wave censorship” is equivalent to a Hubble-scale Casimir effect. This incomplete toy model is presented to stimulate discussion. It predicts a minimum mass and acceleration for the observable universe which are in agreement with the observed mass and acceleration, and predicts that the observable universe gains mass as it expands and was hotter in the past. It also predicts a suppression of variation on the largest cosmic scales that agrees with the low-l cosmic microwave background anomaly seen by the Planck satellite.
Highlights
Using the Hubble space telescope it has been determined that there are about 9 × 1021 stars in the observable universe
This suggested a link with the modified inertia version of empirical Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MoND) [11] but the abrupt break in inertia implied by this model did not fit the observed behaviour of galaxies
The Hubble volume is modelled here by assuming it behaves like a black hole and emits Hawking radiation inwards from its edge whose wavelengths are subject to a Hubble-scale Casimir effect (HsCe) or an equivalent horizon wave censorship model
Summary
Using the Hubble space telescope it has been determined that there are about 9 × 1021 stars in the observable universe. Assuming an average stellar mass based on the Sun, of 2 × 1030 kg, the universe’s visible mass can be calculated to be about 1.8 × 1052±1 kg (note the error bars on the exponent) Another similar estimate obtained by [1] was 2.4 × 1052 kg. Given its error bars this mass is indistinguishable from a critical value that determines whether the universe is gravitationally closed or open. This is the so-called flatness problem pointed out by [3] and the most popular explanation for it is the theory of inflation. Another model is suggested here using a Hubble-scale Casimir effect (HsCe) that has been applied to Unruh radiation to explain inertial mass, but we apply it here to Hawking radiation to model gravitational mass
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