Actual Universe vs Observable Universe

[shane.mcneil]

Hi.

I read today on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observable_universe) that it is possible that the observable universe is larger than the actual universe.

Just wondering if that is so or is it viewed as a kooky idea?

Regards.

[Dave2042]

Not kooky at all as I understand it.

I think the reason you don't hear about it is that (by definition) we can't observe the non-visible universe, so either:


it's not there, so who cares;
it's basically the same as the visible universe, so not terribly much worth worrying about (I think this is where most physicists would intuitively stand, absent evidence to the contrary); or
it's different from our bit of the universe, which is interesting, except we can't observe it, so not much point in discussing at the moment.

Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fine-structure_constant, however, the section 'Is the fine-structure constant actually constant', and 'Australian dipole'. Basically, UNSW astronomers claim to have found the fine-structure constant varying a little, higher in one direction and lower in the opposite. One thing this might suggest is that the universe is much bigger than the observable universe. In brief, why would the variation simply end where our vision cuts out? Of course, their result is still very speculative and may not stand up to further work.