The Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem is a result in physical cosmology, developed by Arvind Borde, Alan Guth and Alexander Vilenkin in 2003, establishing that any universe which has, on average, been expanding throughout its history cannot be infinite in the past and must have a past boundary in spacetime. The result holds for classical spacetime regardless of the universe's matter content, and extends even to some modified theories of gravity such as f(R) gravity. Because it implies that an expanding universe requires a beginning rather than an infinite past, the theorem has drawn attention well beyond physics, feeding into philosophical and religious debate over the origin of the universe.
Facts
StatementAny universe that has, on average, been expanding throughout its history cannot be infinite in the past but must have a past spacetime boundary. 1 Classification
Statement Form Connections
Has Statement Form
Entity-backed identity for the statement-form enum value this theorem already carries, resolved to a mathematics concept by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The statement-form fact itself stays on the theorem unchanged.
Sources
1. Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem, Wikipedia
Description
any universe that has, on average, been expanding throughout its history cannot be infinite in the past but must have a past spacetime boundary
Lead paragraph
who developed its mathematical formulation in 2003
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