View source for Non-standard cosmology

{{Infobox theory
| name = Non-standard cosmology
| type = Umbrella term for cosmological models outside the mainstream consensus
| author = Many — see the models and researchers listed below
| keywords = cosmology, [[Big Bang]], steady state, [[Plasma Cosmology|plasma cosmology]], [[Electric Universe|electric universe]], [[Redshift|redshift]], non-expanding universe
}}

'''Non-standard cosmology''' is the umbrella term for any model of the universe proposed as an alternative to the prevailing consensus — today the Lambda-CDM model, in which the universe began in a [[Big Bang]] some 13.8 billion years ago and is composed largely of dark matter and dark energy.

The label is relative rather than absolute: it marks only what departs from the current consensus, and the consensus itself shifts. A non-zero cosmological constant was non-standard in 1990 and is orthodox today. On this wiki the term covers the substantial and continuing research tradition that regards the standard model as resting on contestable interpretations — above all the assumption that [[Redshift|redshift]] measures distance and recession — and that seeks better-founded alternatives.

==Why the standard model is disputed==

The critical case is set out in detail elsewhere on this wiki rather than repeated here. The central lines of objection are:

* '''Redshift may not measure distance.''' The expansion of the universe is inferred from the redshift–distance relation. If redshift is produced wholly or partly by other processes, that inference fails. See [[Redshift]] and [[Intrinsic redshift]].
* '''Discordant associations.''' Objects of very different redshift appear physically connected, most famously in the work of [[Halton C Arp]]. See [[Quasar]].
* '''Quantized redshifts.''' Redshifts cluster at preferred values rather than varying continuously, which is difficult to reconcile with a simple velocity distribution. See [[Redshift quantization]].
* '''Reliance on unobserved components.''' Dark matter and dark energy together account for most of the mass-energy of the standard model, yet neither has been detected directly.

A fuller catalogue of objections — covering the microwave background, the singularity and inflation, fine-tuning, and age paradoxes — is collected at '''[[Big Bang#Criticisms of the Big Bang on this wiki|Big Bang § Criticisms]]'''.

==Alternative models documented here==

* '''[[Plasma Cosmology]]''' — the tradition of Hannes Alfvén and Anthony Peratt, in which electromagnetic forces and plasma dynamics, rather than gravity alone, shape cosmic structure.
* '''[[Electric Universe]]''' — a related programme emphasising electric currents in space, associated with [[Wallace Thornhill]] and [[David Talbott]].
* '''Steady state and quasi-steady state''' — the Hoyle–Bondi–Gold model of continuous matter creation in an unchanging universe, later developed by Hoyle, Burbidge and [[Jayant Narlikar]] as the quasi-steady-state cosmology.
* '''Non-expanding and infinite universe models''' — see ''[[An Infinite Non-Expanding Universe in Dynamic Equilibrium]]'', ''[[Nature of the Non-Expanding Universe]]'', and the work of [[Paul Marmet]].
* '''Tired-light and photon-energy-loss cosmologies''' — including [[Lyndon E Ashmore|Ashmore's]] New Tired Light and [[Ari Brynjolfsson|Brynjolfsson's]] plasma redshift; see [[Tired Light]].
* '''[[Autodynamics]]''' — [[Ricardo Carezani]]'s replacement for special relativity, with cosmological consequences.

==On this wiki==

Several thousand papers and biographies bearing on cosmology are catalogued here; see [[:Category:Cosmology]]. Researchers with pages include [[Halton C Arp]], [[Paul Marmet]], [[Ari Brynjolfsson]], [[John W Kierein]], [[Amitabha Ghosh]], [[Lyndon E Ashmore]] and many others.

==See also==

* [[Big Bang]]
* [[Redshift]]
* [[Intrinsic redshift]]
* [[Quasar]]
* [[Plasma Cosmology]]
* [[Electric Universe]]
* [[:Category:Cosmology|Category: Cosmology]]

[[Category:Cosmology|Non-standard cosmology]]
[[Category:Theory & Models|Non-standard cosmology]]

[[Category:Redshift]]

[[Category:Big Bang]]

[[Category:Plasma]]