Singularity Avoided: How the Universe May Have 'Bounced' into Existence

The universe may not have begun with a cataclysmic explosion, but rather with a "cosmic bounce." Enrique Gastañaga, a professor at the University of Portsmouth, has proposed a theoretical scenario that challenges the standard view of the origin of space and time 13.8 billion years ago. According to this hypothesis, the universe did not emerge from a point of infinite density. Instead, it underwent a phase of contraction, reached an extremely dense but finite state, and then reversed direction to begin expanding. This model offers a new perspective on the nature of dark matter and explains several anomalies observed by the James Webb Space Telescope. The Mechanics of the Cosmic Bounce Standard General Relativity suggests that tracing the history of the cosmos backward leads to a singularity—a state where density becomes infinite and physical laws cease to function. The "bounce" model replaces this mathematical dead end with a phase of matter compression.