Lemaitres Limit

TL;DR

Lemaitre's theoretical limit for the universe's size, derived in 1927, closely matches modern observations and could significantly impact cosmology if validated today.

Contribution

The paper revisits Lemaitre's 1927 theoretical proof of the universe's maximum size, highlighting its surprising accuracy with current cosmological measurements.

Findings

Lemaitre's limit closely matches current universe size estimates.

The predicted Hubble constant aligns within 1% of recent measurements.

Resurrecting Lemaitre's limit could revolutionize cosmological understanding.

Abstract

Georges Lemaitre gave a theoretical proof for his 1927 doctoral thesis in astronomy that the maximum spherical radius of our Universe can be computed from first principles to be 14.2 billion light-years (Lemaitre 1927a). That estimate, which is known as Lemaitres limit, is surprisingly close to current estimates of the Universes age. Such coincidence, to within 3%, between the predicted size and observed age of the Universe is more significant today because of the resurrection in the late 1990s of the cosmological constant (also known as vacuum or dark energy). The most precise Hubble constant to date, H = 69.32 km/s/Mpc based on the full nine-years of Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe measurements, is within 1% of the value predicted based on Lemaitres Limit, H = 68.7 km/s/Mpc. If Lemaitres Limit is resurrected, it will revolutionize cosmology.