oscillating universe

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. a variant model of the closed universe in which the universe undergoes cycles of expansion and contraction.

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oscillating universe Scientific  

/ ŏs′ə-lā′tĭng /

1. A model of a closed universe in which the expansion of the universe slows and reverses, thereby causing a collapse into a singularity, which then expands into a new universe, repeating the cycle. Such a model implies that our universe is just one of a long line of universes. Scientists have not been able to develop a theory of how a collapsed universe could expand into a new one.

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Example Sentences

That's the basic premise behind the cyclic or oscillating universe theory, which actually dates back to the 1930s.

From Salon • Feb. 2, 2023

As the Big Bang became accepted scientific theory, the oscillating universe theory faded away.

From Salon • Feb. 2, 2023

"He took the possibility of an oscillating universe quite seriously," one biography of Tolman said.

From Salon • Feb. 2, 2023

It tries to portray the oscillating universe in musical terms.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

It was first thought to be hot intergalactic hydrogen, an immense amount of it never before seen, perhaps enough to close the Cosmos and to guarantee that we are trapped in an oscillating universe.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan