Radioactivity and the Origin of Life in Milne's Cosmology

Abstract

ACCORDING to the cosmological theory of Milne, we may either describe events in terms of a time t with a finite past, and Euclidean space, or of a time τ = t₀ + t₀ log t/t₀where t₀ is the present epoch on the t-scale, and hyperbolic space. On the t-scale the radius of the material universe is ct, the spiral nebulæ are receding, and the lengths of rigid objects are proportional to t, but spectral frequencies are constant. On the τ-scale the nebulæ are not receding, nor is matter expanding, but spectral frequencies are proportional to t at the instant of emission, the light from distant nebulæ being red because it was emitted long ago. The two descriptions of the universe lead to the same predictions regarding all observable events.