I found an abstract of Stephen Hawking’s last paper, which he did with Thomas Hertog. I find myself agreeing with them on the finite state of the Universe, but not with Dr. Hertog’s statement in the interview that mass was infinite in the singularity.
The reason is simple, I don’t see how the lesser can hold the greater. The infinite is greater than the finite, thus the finite cannot hold the infinite.
In addition I don’t see how mass was even possible when all space-time was in the same state. That is, a high energy state. As far as I see the phenomenon we call mass in the result of the interaction between space-time in a high energy state and space-time in a low energy state. Mass can manifest in our universe because currently most space-time is in a low energy state, while that in a high energy state makes up a small proportion of the total.
What limits the ultimate size of the universe?
Not mass, but the amount of space-time itself. That amount is finite, and given that space-time can be neither created or destroyed, this means that there will come a time when the Universe can’t continue to expand. When all space-time is in a low energy state any further expansion would mean the destruction of space-time, which is not allowed. To make this simple, the Universe will not be able to continue to expand. Instead the energy of expansion will result in the Universe rebounding against its furthest limit, resulting in the the Universe then contracting back to a singularity.
In addition I see size as having an absolute minimum. That is, there is a minimum length nothing can be smaller than. At least not physically, mathematically is another matter. When a Universe has shrunk to that size the energy of contraction forces a rebound resulting in the Universe in question expanding again.
That’s how I see things, your take?