2003/04/09 by John D. Barrow, Janna Levin
Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Mathematical Theories and Applications #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #astro-ph #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2966.2003.07117.x
published as Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.346:615,2003 · 5 pages
arxiv created 2003/04/09 · openalex publication_date 2003/11/19 · arxiv updated 2011/05/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Copernicus realized that we are not at the centre of the Universe. A universe made finite by topological identifications introduces a new Copernican consideration: while we may not be at the geometric centre of the Universe, some galaxy could be. A finite universe also picks out a preferred frame: the frame in which the universe is smallest. Although we are not likely to be at the centre of the Universe, we must live in the preferred frame (if we are at rest with respect to the cosmological expansion). We show that the preferred topological frame must also be the comoving frame in a homogeneous and isotropic cosmological space–time. Some implications of topologically identifying time are also discussed.