Failure of the classical Big Bang and alternatives

What defines the nature of our universe and its laws? Nature seems to defy the principles of God's character in many ways.
The explanation of the problem of evil, is that our universe was blighted by sin. Yet I believe it is just one of many. That our universe is one of many is supported by recent discoveries in physics. 

The original Big Bang explanation was powerful but incomplete. It was built from Einstein's relativistic physics. It explained the origin of early matter and the spectrum of the microwave background radiation. Yet it could not explain the distribution of matter across the universe or the timing of event. It also predicted materials like magnetic monopoles that are probably forbidden in physics. The original model of the Big Bang made a universe that was too lumpy with high concentrations of matter. These would have not turned into galaxies but immediately collapsed into huge black holes.

Experimental evidence shows that the curvature of the universe is very flat. While the distribution of energy during the big bang was very even. As a classical non-quantum theory the hot Big Bang fails. It predicts an origin from a single point of infinite density and zero size. These are referred to by science as singularities. Such infinities indicate a point of failure in a theory because a real universe materials and energy concentrations are limited.

Astrophysicist Alan Guth developed his quantum version of the Big Bang in 1980 to fix these problems. His solution is called the Inflationary model. It correctly predicts the distribution of matter in the universe and the structure of galaxies. Inflation in turn predicts a multiverse.

The quantum field that causes inflation expands forever without anything to stop it. So any part of a universe that keeps inflating continues to generate new baby universes. The end result is an process of infinite inflation somewhere in the structure and a vast number of universes. This version of the Big Bang implies that multiple universes not only exist but are an essential foundation for modern quantum physics.

Inflation has performed amazingly well against all the observations made of the universe since it was first proposed. Its mathematics is built from an understanding of entropy, symmetry breaking and phase transitions, all important discoveries about nature. Inflation as a force is proven because we have known since the late 1990’s that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. That can only come about via some form of inflation. Although the expansion is driven by a different source of energy than during the Big Bang. When you accept the evidence that inflation exists, you have to deal with the multiverse. As Alan Guth puts it, inflation causing multiple universes is normal. No physical mechanism in science works only once.

Inflationary theory and multiple universes are significant for Christians. They remove the requirement for time to come into existence with the Big Bang. We don’t need to believe in a timeless state as the ancients suggested, to explain our universe or any other. There were significant events before the Big Bang and events occuring outside our universe. The concepts of inflation provides a foundation for many different kinds of universes each with its own laws.

The ultimate fate of the universe will be determined by the same forces that triggered inflation. As well as by the law of entropy that forces everything towards decay and death.

The chaotic nature of quantum forces means that the creation of universes does not stop with just one universe. The multiverse is still still growing, and adding new universes all the time.

“Consider for a moment the possibility of a far more complex and richer cosmos made up of many universes. A multiverse in which our universe is but a single humble member in a far flung corner of this vastness. That possibility allows for the mathematical calculation of a range of values for habitation. It allows us to objectively compare chances of existence of different universes, rather than the logically flawed comparison of a single universe to itself. It allows us to derive and explain our origins, not postulate them on anthropic grounds. It offers a glimpse of the Cosmos beyond our horizon and before the Big Bang. Rather than shutting the door on scientific enquiry it pushes us to think more broadly and boldly” – Epilog, Before the Big Bang. Laura Mersini-Houghton, 2022.