The Zero-Sum Cosmos: Conservation as a Cosmological Principle

J. Rogers, SE Ohio

Abstract:
The fundamental laws of conservation—of energy, momentum, charge, and others—are typically understood as principles governing processes within the universe. This paper argues for a more profound interpretation: that the laws of conservation are a direct and necessary cosmological statement about the universe as a whole. We posit that the very existence of a conserved quantity logically necessitates that its total sum across the entirety of the cosmos must be zero. This "Zero-Sum" framework provides a coherent physical basis for the universe's origin from a state of nullity (ex nihilo), resolves the question of cosmic creation without violating physical law, and frames all physical phenomena as internal, zero-sum rearrangements of a foundational nothingness.

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1. The Logical Structure of Conservation

A conservation law states that the total quantity of a specific property within a closed system remains constant over time. Its net change must be zero. The most fundamental application of this principle is to the only truly closed system: the universe itself.

Let Q be a conserved quantity. The law of conservation states:

ΔQ_universe / Δt = 0

This differential form implies an integral truth: the total amount of Q in the universe today, Q_total, must be equal to the total amount of Q at the moment of its origin, Q_initial.

Q_total = Q_initial

This forces a direct confrontation with the question of cosmic origins. What is the most logical initial state for a universe that gives rise to physical law? The only state that requires no prior cause or special conditions is a state of perfect nullity—nothingness. In such a state, every physical quantity is, by definition, zero.

Therefore, if Q_initial = 0, it must be that:

Q_total = 0

Any quantity that is truly conserved under physical law must have a total sum of zero across the universe as a whole. This is not a coincidence or a matter of chance; it is a logical necessity flowing from the interplay between the laws of conservation and the principle of a non-caused origin.

2. Application to Physical Quantities

This "Zero-Sum" principle provides a powerful explanatory framework for the observed structure of the universe.

• Energy: The universe is filled with an immense quantity of positive energy in the form of mass (E=mc²), kinetic energy, and radiation. A naive accounting would suggest a massive violation of the E_total = 0 principle. However, General Relativity describes gravity not as a force, but as a curvature of spacetime, representing a store of negative potential energy. The Zero-Sum hypothesis posits that the total negative gravitational potential energy of the cosmos precisely cancels the total positive energy of all matter and radiation. The universe, in its entirety, is an entity of zero energy. Its creation required no net injection of energy, and all cosmic evolution is merely a process of separating positive energy from negative potential energy, like digging a hole and piling the dirt beside it. The net change in elevation remains zero.

• Momentum: The vector sum of the momentum of all objects in the universe must be zero. If the origin state was a static point, its total momentum was zero. Every subsequent motion—from the expansion of galaxies to the firing of a neuron—must be perfectly balanced by an equal and opposite motion elsewhere in the system. The universe is not moving through anything; it is only expanding and evolving internally, with all motions canceling out to preserve the initial state of zero momentum.

• Electric Charge: Observation confirms this principle with extraordinary precision. For every proton (charge +1), there is a corresponding electron (charge -1). The net charge of atoms is zero. Matter appears to be electrically neutral on all cosmological scales. The creation of charged particles, as seen in pair production, always yields a particle and its antiparticle, preserving a net charge of zero. The universe is electrically null because it began from a state of nullity.

• Other Conserved Quantities: This principle extends to all conserved quantum numbers, such as angular momentum (spin), baryon number, and lepton number. The total spin of the universe must be zero. The total number of baryons and anti-baryons must be equal, as must the totals for leptons and anti-leptons. The observed asymmetry (the prevalence of matter over antimatter) is thus framed not as a violation of this principle, but as one of the deepest unsolved puzzles in physics, prompting theories that seek a mechanism for this apparent imbalance while still preserving the foundational zero-sum condition.

3. Conclusion: The Universe as a Rearrangement of Nothing

The laws of conservation are not merely rules of accounting for physicists. They are the indelible signature of our cosmic origin. The fact that anything is conserved at all is the strongest possible evidence that the universe, as a a whole, is a zero-sum system.

This perspective recasts our view of reality. The universe is not a collection of "things" existing within a void, but a single, self-contained, and perfectly balanced equation. Every particle, every field, every motion, and every structure is one term in a cosmic identity that must always sum to zero. The elaborate and complex cosmos we observe is not evidence of a spectacular creation, but of the surprisingly intricate and dynamic ways that "nothing" can be arranged. Physical law is the grammar of this rearrangement. The universe did not come from nothing; it is nothing, in a constant and evolving state of dynamic equilibrium.