To this precision-measurement guy, [edit: accelerating] cosmic expansion is a weak (super weak?) theory. Maybe those "standard candles" are not so standard and there is a flaw in the myriad light-curve adjustments. It would be unsurprising if early supernovae differed from recent ones in poorly understood ways.
Edit: Regarding the question of whether time would reverse during the big crunch, I think it's possible that entropy can keep growing locally while it shrinks globally. At least until it's really crunch time.
You're even more radical than I am! In my mind, recession is a natural inference from redshift, and that's all you really need to show "cosmic expansion". The fact that more distant galaxies are receding faster was demonstrated by Edwin Hubble in the 1920s and (in my mind) the evidence is now overwhelming. Halton Arp made a strong case (again, in my opinion) that there are additional reasons for redshift besides recession velocity, but even he didn't argue against expansion of the universe. https://mitteldorf.substack.com/p/halton-arp
To this precision-measurement guy, [edit: accelerating] cosmic expansion is a weak (super weak?) theory. Maybe those "standard candles" are not so standard and there is a flaw in the myriad light-curve adjustments. It would be unsurprising if early supernovae differed from recent ones in poorly understood ways.
Edit: Regarding the question of whether time would reverse during the big crunch, I think it's possible that entropy can keep growing locally while it shrinks globally. At least until it's really crunch time.
You're even more radical than I am! In my mind, recession is a natural inference from redshift, and that's all you really need to show "cosmic expansion". The fact that more distant galaxies are receding faster was demonstrated by Edwin Hubble in the 1920s and (in my mind) the evidence is now overwhelming. Halton Arp made a strong case (again, in my opinion) that there are additional reasons for redshift besides recession velocity, but even he didn't argue against expansion of the universe. https://mitteldorf.substack.com/p/halton-arp
Sorry, I meant cosmic "acceleration" not "expansion". Redshifts are good enough for me, but acceleration (due to dark energy?) is maybe a fairy tale.