Some black holes may be so ancient that they predate the stars
themselves, forming instead in the chaotic first moments after
the Big Bang. There might even be some black holes out there
from the universe before the Big Bang. This is one of those
stories with a ton of "ifs" and some fairly daring leaps of
logic, but nothing about it is actually impossible. So, with
those caveats in mind, let's look at the actual theory. Let's
assume that the lifespan of the universe is cyclical, beginning
with a Big Bang and a period of frenzied expansion, which
eventually leads to a similar phase of contraction into what is
ultimately the Big Crunch, which then leads to another Big Bang.
Based on what we know about dark energy and the accelerating
expansion of our universe, it doesn't seem terribly likely that
we're headed for a Big Crunch, but let's assume for the sake of
argument that our Big Bang really did follow on from the Big
Crunch of a previous universe. A key thing to keep in mind is
that a Big Bang and a Big Crunc