The Center of the Universe

[Lloyd Gillespie]

It's not foolish wordplay, it's a question; obviously one to which you do not have an answer. The obvious reason for this is that some models of the universe do not have a centre. In fact, it defies the cosmological principle (the thing that actually allows us to do cosmology) to say that the universe has a centre.

And what Neutralino, does a 2d surface question have to do with the center of the cosmological universe...? No 2d model can represent a universe___Such models are quite illusory, are they not...? Everyone using 2d models tries to reduce them down to something real, when in fact, there's only 3d/4d models of the real universe... Once one interprets a true 2d model, it disappears___Illusion. Take the atomic structure out of a 3d model, and where is it?___Gone... All that truly exists is 3d/4d___Particles and motion... And, I also accept that the universe has a cosmological center, but I see no way that 2d surfaces or 2d math represents it... Maybe you can inform me how...?

Regards,
Lloyd

[neutralino]

And what Neutralino, does a 2d surface question have to do with the center of the cosmological universe...? No 2d model can represent a universe___Such models are quite illusory, are they not...? Everyone using 2d models tries to reduce them down to something real, when in fact, there's only 3d/4d models of the real universe... Once one interprets a true 2d model, it disappears___Illusion. Take the atomic structure out of a 3d model, and where is it?___Gone... All that truly exists is 3d/4d___Particles and motion... And, I also accept that the universe has a cosmological center, but I see no way that 2d surfaces or 2d math represents it... Maybe you can inform me how...?

Regards,
Lloyd

Of course a 2 dimensional surface is not a model of the universe. However, the 3 dimensional surface of a 4 dimensional sphere is a conceivable model of the universe. This surface (called S^3 amongst mathematicians) is topologically equivalent to the surface of a 3-sphere, but we cannot picture what it would look like. Therefore, I used the lower dimensional model to try and emphasize the point that there are models of the universe that have no centre. I hope that this has emphasized it sufficiently.

[Profpat]

Hi Baudrunner;

I guess if you ask most physicist, they would say the center is Lloyd's navel ( Just kidding Lloyd ) It's actually the tip of Baudrunner's nose.

I have problems with this myself because I believe every entity, or composite of entities, should have a center of gravity.

Best to all,

Pat