oscillating universe

American  

noun

Astronomy.

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

---

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.

---

Example Sentences

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

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

From Salon • Feb. 2, 2023

It tries to portray the oscillating universe in musical terms.

From Textbooks • Oct. 13, 2016

Scientists wonder about what happens in an oscillating universe at the cusps, at the transition from contraction to expansion.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan