Editing Plasma cosmology (section)

{{Short description|Non-standard model of the universe; emphasizes the role of ionized gases}}
[[Image:Klein-Alfvén_cosmology.svg|thumb|350px|Comparison of the evolution of the universe under Alfvén–Klein cosmology and the [[Big Bang theory]].<ref name=Alfven1990 >{{cite journal 
|last1=Alfven | first1=H.O.G. 
|year=1990 
|title= Cosmology in the plasma universe – an introductory exposition 
|journal=IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science 
|volume=18 
|pages=5–10 
|doi=10.1109/27.45495
|bibcode=1990ITPS...18....5A }}</ref>]]

'''Plasma cosmology''' is a [[non-standard cosmology]] whose central postulate is that the dynamics of ionized gases and [[plasma (physics)|plasmas]] play important, if not dominant, roles in the physics of the universe at [[Interstellar space|interstellar]] and [[Intergalactic space|intergalactic]] scales.<ref name="Peratt1992">{{cite journal
|last1      = Peratt
|first1     = Anthony
|title      = Plasma Cosmology
|journal    = Sky & Telescope
|volume     = 83
|issue      = 2
|pages      = 136–141
|date       = February 1992
|url        = http://plasmauniverse.info/downloads/CosmologyPeratt.pdf
 |access-date = 26 May 2012
}} recount: It was described as this in the February 1992 issue of ''Sky & Telescope'' ("Plasma Cosmology"), and by Anthony Peratt in the 1980s, who describes it as a "nonstandard picture". The [[Lambda-CDM model|ΛCDM model]] big bang picture is typically described as the "concordance model", "standard [[scientific model|model]]" or "standard [[scientific paradigm|paradigm]]" of cosmology [http://www.slac.stanford.edu/spires/find/hep/www?rawcmd=FIND+T+%22STANDARD+COSMOLOGICAL+MODEL%22 here]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, and [http://www.arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/9505066 here].</ref><ref name=Alfven1990 />  In contrast, the current [[observational cosmology|observations]] and [[Lambda-CDM model|models]] of [[cosmology|cosmologists]] and [[astrophysics|astrophysicists]] explain the formation, development, and evolution of large-scale structures as dominated by [[gravity]] (including its formulation in [[Albert Einstein]]'s [[General relativity|general theory of relativity]]).

The original form of the theory, '''Alfvén–Klein cosmology''', was developed by [[Hannes Alfvén]] and [[Oskar Klein]] in the 1960s and 1970s,<ref name="Parker1993">{{cite book
|last=Parker
|first=Barry
|date=1993
|title=The Vindication of the Big Bang
|chapter=Plasma Cosmology
|chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4899-5980-5_15
|publisher=Springer
|location=Boston, MA
|isbn=978-1-4899-5980-5
|doi=10.1007/978-1-4899-5980-5_15
|page=325
}}</ref> and holds that matter and [[antimatter]] exist in equal quantities at very large scales, that the universe is eternal rather than bounded in time by the [[Big Bang]], and that the [[expansion of the universe|expansion of the observable universe]] is caused by annihilation between matter and antimatter rather than a mechanism like [[cosmic inflation]].<ref name=Alfven1990 />

Cosmologists and astrophysicists who have evaluated plasma cosmology reject it because it does not match the observations of astrophysical phenomena as well as the currently accepted [[Big Bang model]].{{sfn|Parker|1993|pp=335–336}} Very few papers supporting plasma cosmology have appeared in the literature since the mid-1990s.

The term '''plasma universe'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> is sometimes used as a synonym for plasma cosmology,<ref name="Peratt1992"/> as an alternative description of the plasma in the universe.<ref name=Alfven1990 /> Plasma cosmology is distinct from [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] ideas collectively called the ''Electric Universe,'' though proponents of each are known to be sympathetic to each other''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hogan and Velikovsky |url=https://www.jerrypournelle.com/science/velikovsky.htm |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=www.jerrypournelle.com}}</ref>''<ref name="sa-eu">{{Cite news |last=Shermer |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Shermer |date=2015-10-01 |title=The Difference between Science and Pseudoscience |work=[[Scientific American]] |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-difference-between-science-and-pseudoscience/ |access-date=2022-03-28}}</ref> These pseudoscientific ideas vary widely<ref>Bridgman, William T., Stuart Robbins, and C. Alex Young. "Crank Astronomy As A Teaching Tool." ''American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts# 215''. Vol. 215. 2010.</ref> but generally claim that electric currents flow into stars and power them like light bulbs, contradicting well-established [[Scientific theory|scientific theories]] and observations showing that stars are powered by [[nuclear fusion]].<ref>
{{cite web
| url          = https://www.vice.com/en/article/electric-universe-theory-thunderbolts-project-wallace-thornhill/
| title        = The People Who Believe Electricity Rules the Universe
| last         = Scoles
| first        = Sarah
| date         = 18 February 2016
| website      = Motherboard
| publisher    = Vice
| access-date  = 1 November 2022
| quote        = }}</ref>