Using the Shapiro Effect to Save the Big Bang
Based on responses to my web site about the Shapiro effect and the Big Bang, it is apparent that there is a very strong resistance to abandoning the concept of a Big Bang. Whether this is based on reasoned logic that such an event occurred, or a generalized reluctance to go against contemporary astronomical thinking, I do not know. But one respondent pushed me hard to integrate the Shapiro effect with the Big Bang concept, with some results which surprised even me.
One of the major problems with the current Big Bang concept is the age of the universe. It simply appears too young to have created the many structures, galaxies, galactic clusters, strings, great walls, etc. that are observed. Present estimates of the age of the universe, based on calculations of the Hubble constant H0, place the age somewhere between 10 billion and 20 billion years, with most estimates around 15 billion years. This is much to young to have created all the observable structure in the universe. The Big Bang would be much more palatable if the universe were much older.
Enter the Shapiro effect. Let us suppose that the universe is really expanding after all. But let us further suggest that the observed redshift may be a combination of the Doppler effect caused by recession, and of redshift caused by the Shapiro effect. The result would be that galaxies are actually receding, but much slower than currently believed. Some of the redshift is due to the Shapiro effect!
With lower recessional velocities for the distant galaxies, the time of the Big Bang could be pushed back many years, perhaps 100-200 billion years -- enough time to have allowed the many structures of the universe to have occurred.
The universe may or may not be expanding. But it appears that if it is expanding, the Shapiro effect can solve one of the most vexing problems with the Big Bang theory.