Quote Originally Posted by fcman
The problem here is we don't know the limits of the universe, if there are any. The hardest thing for the human mind to comprehend is something that is infinite.

However if there is a limit, we can assume that, due to the posted laws, the universe is a sphere. We know that the universe is constantly expanding, and according to Steven Hawking that all major systems are moving away from each other. This can only mean that the universe is in fact a sphere. The fact that this sphere is growing means not only was there some force that pushed everything away, but that there is a center.

A center means a few things:
1. Everything started in one place
2. Everything will return to that place.

"uneven distribution of matter throughout the universe resulting in huge voids and clumps of matter"
This all depends on perspective. A huge void may actually be tiny depending on how large the universe actually is. For instance, if you were to shrink the earth to the size of a pool ball, it would be smoother than the actual thing, even though we have "huge" landforms such as mountains.

Bah, I have to leave, I'll continue later.
2 problems with that:

Because of the enormous initial rate of expansion, faster-than-lightspeed signaling would have been necessary for forces to produce and retain universal smoothness over billions of years; however, even the transmission of information above lightspeed is a violation of the theory of relativity. How do you explain the instantaeous expansion, and what energy could overcome the gravitational attraction of the entire mass of the universe?

If you follow Einstein's theories, space is curved due to the presence of matter, but is only positively curved. If you believe that space is uncurved or negatively curved, there must be something to overcome the positive curvature resulting from the presence of the matter. Do you accept the idea of uncurved space of a flat universe, or the negatively curved space of an open universe, and acknowledge the existence of negative gravity? Do you have evidence to provide for the rationale for flat or negative curvature in a universe of significant mass - the mathematics must represent some physical phenomena, specifically, Einstein's publishing of cosmic repulsion.