The fate of black hole singularities and the parameters of the standard models of particle physics and cosmology

The implications of a cosmological scenario which explains the values of the parameters of the standard models of elementary particle physics and cosmology are discussed. In this scenario these parameters are set by a process analogous to natural selection which follows naturally from the assumption that the singularities in black holes are removed by quantum effects leading to the creation of new expanding regions of the universe. The suggestion of J. A. Wheeler that the parameters change randomly at such events, leads naturally to the conjecture that the parameters have been selected for values that extremize the production of black holes. This leads directly to a prediction, which is that small changes in any of the parameters should lead to a decrease in the number of black holes produced by the universe. Thus, in this case a hypothesis about particle physics and quantum gravity may be refuted or verified by a combination of astrophysical observation and theory. This paper reports on attempts to refute this conjecture. On plausible astrophysical assumptions it is found that changes in many of the parameters do lead to a decrease in the number of black holes produced by spiral galaxies. These include the masses of the proton, neutron, electron and neutrino and the weak, strong and electromagnetic coupling constants. Finally, this scenario predicts a natural time scale for cosmology equal to the time over which spiral galaxies maintain appreciable rates of star formation, which is compatible with current observations that Ω = .1− .2. ∗ [email protected]