Creation Moment 7/29/2024 - A New Cosmology SERIES: Intro

I am the LORD that maketh all things; 

that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; 

that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself; 

That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, 

and maketh diviners mad;

 that turneth wise men backward, 

and maketh their knowledge foolish; 

Isaiah 44:24,25

"Estimated galaxy diameters in deep field images provided by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are far smaller than cosmologists expected. 

However, these size estimates assume the Friedmann-Lemaitre-

Robertson-Walker (FLWR) metric of an expanding universe. 

---We here show that if galaxy redshifts are interpreted as Doppler shifts in a non-expanding space then these distant galaxies are actually the same size as nearby galaxies for all values of redshift (z). ---We show that the brightness of these galaxies is also consistent with their redshift interpreted as a Doppler shift in non-expanding space. 

---We find that the standard model fails the Tolman surface brightness test when applied to JWST galaxies, but that our alternative model passes. 

Secular astronomers interpret the differences between their predictions and observations as a result of galaxy evolution over billions of years. 

---We here show that the data are more consistent with galaxies receding through a non-expanding space in which no substantial galaxy evolution has occurred. 

This new cosmology is consistent with Biblical creation, contrary to the big bang, and allows us to make testable, quantitative predictions about future JWST observations.

In particular, the galaxies are 

more abundant, 

more massive, 

more mature, 

more structured, 

have higher metallicity, 

and exist at greater distances 

than standard secular cosmologists had predicted (Boylan-Kolchin 2023; Ferreira et al. 2022; Labbé et al. 2023; Rhoads et al. 2023).

Most advocates of the big bang have simply readjusted their models of galaxy evolution to accommodate these new discoveries, pushing back galaxy formation to an earlier time. But there are several specific aspects of these distant galaxies that strongly resist any realistic interpretation within the standard cosmological model. 

The brightnesses, surface brightnesses, and especially the angular diameters of distant galaxies observed by the JWST suggest an entirely different cosmology.

These differences arise from different assumptions about what is causing redshifts in galaxies—the stretching of their light to longer

wavelengths. 

Until recently, it has been difficult to discern which model best fits the data because the predictions of all models are very similar for nearby galaxies. 

But the JWST has unveiled the properties of galaxies at unprecedented distances where the predictions of various models radically diverge. 

These observations are not favorable to the big bang model nor the metric on which it is based. They do, however, fit nicely into a model in which galaxies recede through space without expansion of space itself. Thus, this new interpretation of the data may form the basis for a Biblically-compatible “young universe” cosmology.

The wavelength of light we observe is not always the same as the wavelength observed by the source at the time of its creation. The difference may be due to any number of processes, such as the Doppler effect or time dilation. 

Redshift (z) is defined as the shift of the observed wavelength (λ0) relative to the emitted wavelength (λE) by the following:

𝑧=𝜆𝑂𝜆𝐸−1

Equation 1

In the 1920s, Edwin Hubble discovered a relationship between the distance to a given galaxy, and its redshift. Namely, galaxies that are farther from us tend to have a higher redshift than those nearby. The relationship is nearly linear for nearby galaxies and is called the Hubble Law. It has the following form:

𝑧=𝐻0𝑐𝑟

Equation 2

The constant of proportionality, H0, is called the Hubble constant, c is the round-trip speed of light, r is the distance to the galaxy, and z is the redshift. The subscript 0 in the Hubble constant denotes that this is the current value of this number and may not have always been

this value over cosmological time.

In the 1920s, many astronomers interpreted the shifts in wavelength of the spectrum of galaxies as being due to the Doppler effect. Most galaxies are apparently moving away from ours and the larger the distance to the galaxy, the faster its recession velocity. For low redshifts, z ≈ v/c, and the Hubble law can be written as:

𝑣=𝐻0𝑟

Equation 3

Logically, if our galaxy observes neighboring galaxies receding in a way that is linearly proportional to their distance, then each of these other galaxies should also see other galaxies receding away from them according to the same Hubble law. Thus, the Hubble law implies that the entire universe is expanding in the sense that the average distance between galaxies is increasing—if the redshifts are interpreted as a Doppler effect.

Also in the 1920s, four physicists (Alexander Friedmann, George Lemaître, Howard P. Robertson, and Arthur Geoffrey Walker) independently discovered a non-static solution to Einstein’s field equations as applied to the entire universe. Many physicists were convinced that this solution showed that space itself could expand. With the publication of the Hubble law in 1929, Lemaitre argued that the observed redshift-distance relation of galaxies supported his solution. 

In 1931 Lemaitre conjectured that if the universe is expanding today, it must have been as small as an atom in the distant past. 

This was the first version of what would later be called the big bang theory. The solution to Einstein’s equations which describes an isotropic, homogeneous, expanding universe is called the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric after the four scientists who discovered it. It is often shortened to the Robertson-Walker metric.

The FLRW metric is assumed by the majority of astronomers today

because it naturally explains the Hubble law and why the law is linear for low redshifts. And it is required for the big bang origins story to be plausible. But the FLRW metric does not automatically imply a big bang. An expanding universe does not require that the universe started from a size of zero. Hence, most creation astronomers have largely embraced this metric while rejecting Lemaitre’s conjecture of how and when the universe began.

The FLRW metric is a fundamentally different explanation for galactic redshifts from the Doppler effect. The Doppler effect is the shifting of light wavelengths due to relative motion of the source through space. Such motion causes a redshift or blueshift due to the decompression or compression of the wave fronts relative to the observer. On the other hand, the FLRW metric treats the galaxies as essentially stationary points on an expanding balloon. The points become increasingly separated from each other, not because they are moving through space, but because the space between them is constantly expanding. Since the light is travelling through expanding space, its wavelength is stretched as it travels: the greater the distance, the greater the redshift.

It is impossible to discern the cause of a redshift

from the light itself.

A galaxy that is moving away from us through space produces the same kind of redshift as a galaxy that is “stationary” at some distance in an expanding space. However, the FLRW metric implies that spacetime is curved in such a way that distant galaxies will appear somewhat different at a given redshift than they would if the redshifts are entirely due to the Doppler effect. 

For example, the angular diameter of a galaxy at a given redshift will be different between a model that assumes redshifts are caused by expansion and one that assumes that redshifts are caused entirely by the Doppler effect. The apparent brightness will differ as well. Data from the JWST now make it possible to distinguish between these models. (Note that neither a Doppler interpretation nor the FLRW metric imply any central position for the earth. If the rate of galaxy recession increases with distance—the Hubble law—then all other galaxies should observe a similar relation relative to their location regardless of the cause of that recession.)

The FLRW metric permits galaxies to have genuine motion through space in addition to being carried along by expansion of the intervening space. Thus, the Doppler effect either adds to or subtracts from (depending on the direction of motion) the redshift that is due to expansion of space assuming the FLRW metric. 

--The increasing distance between galaxies due to expansion of space is called the Hubble flow, and the individual velocities of galaxies as they move through space are called peculiar velocities. For distant galaxies, the Hubble flow is so large that it overwhelms any peculiar velocity; hence all distant galaxies are redshifted. 

--However, for very nearby galaxies, the Hubble flow is quite small and peculiar velocities dominate. This is why a few very nearby galaxies are actually slightly blue-shifted, such as M31. Peculiar velocities simply add a bit of scatter to the Hubble law. Statistically, the peculiar velocities are essentially random and will therefore tend to cancel out on average in large data sets.

Other explanations for the Hubble law in a non-expanding space have also been suggested (Dennis 2022; de Sitter 1917; Hartnett 2015; Zwicky 1929). The tired light hypothesis was proposed by Fritz Zwicky in 1929. He postulated that galaxies are nearly stationary (except for their small peculiar velocities) in a non-expanding universe and that redshifts are merely a natural result of light traveling vast distances. 

That is, he thought that light gradually loses energy as it travels. Several mechanisms have been suggested, but most of them predicted a visual blurring of the most distant galaxies—a blurring that is not observed. The theory was not widely accepted, but is now being revisited by some astronomers in light of recent JWST observations (Gupta 2023; Lovyagin et al. 2022)." 

AIG