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Will the universe really end?


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Posted
  • Location: St Austell,Cornwall
  • Location: St Austell,Cornwall

The universe began with the big bang (Some may think others way of the beginning of the universe).

But the universe has to end one day? Or will just go on forever? 

There are some predictions about the fate of the universe.

 

1.Big freeze

 

This scenario is generally considered to be the most likely,as it occurs if the universe continues expanding as it has been. Over a time scale on the order of 1014 years or less, existing stars burn out, stars cease to be created, and the universe goes dark.Over a much longer time scale in the eras following this, the galaxy evaporates as the stellar remnants comprising it escape into space, and black holes evaporate via Hawking radiation.In some grand unified theories, proton decay after at least 1034 years will convert the remaining interstellar gas and stellar remnants into leptons (such as positrons and electrons) and photons. Some positrons and electrons will then recombine into photons.In this case, the universe has reached a high-entropy state consisting of a bath of particles and low-energy radiation. It is not known however whether it eventually achieves thermodynamic equilibrium.

 

2.Big Crunch 

 

If the energy density of dark energy were negative or the universe were closed, then it would be possible that the expansion of the universe would reverse and the universe would contract towards a hot, dense state. This is a required element of oscillatory universe scenarios, such as the cyclic model, although a Big Crunch does not necessarily imply an oscillatory Universe. Current observations suggest that this model of the universe is unlikely to be correct, and the expansion will continue or even accelerate.

 

3.Big Rip

 

This scenario is possible only if the energy density of dark energy actually increases without limit over time.[citation needed] Such dark energy is called phantom energy and is unlike any known kind of energy. In this case, the expansion rate of the universe will increase without limit. Gravitationally bound systems, such as clusters of galaxies, galaxies, and ultimately the Solar System will be torn apart. Eventually the expansion will be so rapid as to overcome the electromagnetic forces holding molecules and atoms together. Finally even atomic nuclei will be torn apart and the universe as we know it will end in an unusual kind of gravitational singularity. At the time of this singularity, the expansion rate of the universe will reach infinity, so that any and all forces (no matter how strong) that hold composite objects together (no matter how closely) will be overcome by this expansion, literally tearing everything apart.

 

4.Vacuum metastability event

 

If our universe is in a very long-lived false vacuum, it is possible that a small region of the universe will tunnel into a lower energy state. If this happens, all structures within will be destroyed instantaneously and the region will expand at near light speed, bringing destruction without any forewarning.

 

5.Heat death

 

The heat death is a possible final state of the universe, estimated at after 10150 years, in which it has "run down" to a state of no thermodynamic free energy to sustain motion or life. In physical terms, it has reached maximum entropy (because of this, the term "entropy" has often been confused with Heat Death, to the point of entropy being labelled as the "force killing the universe"). The hypothesis of a universal heat death stems from the 1850s ideas of William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) who extrapolated the theory of heat views of mechanical energy loss in nature, as embodied in the first two laws of thermodynamics, to universal operation.

 

But its all a very long time away.

 

So what do you think?

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Posted
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire
  • Weather Preferences: Cool not cold, warm not hot. No strong Wind.
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire

Think this will remain the big unknown for quite a while, I mean in terms of matter I think it stands a 5%+- found so far, so the desperate search the the rest, the dark matter, if it exists and is found, may throw up a few answers, and more questions no doubt.

 

The LHC is cranking up the power for their next phase, who knows what will come of that.

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Posted
  • Location: Droylsden, Manchester, 94 metres/308 feet ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Dry/mild/warm/sunny/high pressure/no snow/no rain
  • Location: Droylsden, Manchester, 94 metres/308 feet ASL

Will the universe really end? - we may never know, it is the most complex "thing" known to man. After all me - you - and everyone else are part of the universe. We are living breathing examples of it. We all came from the "big bang" and before that.

 

Before the big bang I think there was a universe of sorts but not as big as now. Some people think the universe is getting smaller after it's expansion. Again something we may never know for sure.

 

One thing is for certain in that "energy" does not "die". Put it this way - as humans and animals are a jigsaw in the universe we physically die but our energy/soul live on. Possibly why people who are near to death see loved ones? we perhaps go to a new dimensional area in the universe? I don't think we "reincarnate" into some other animal or get reborn.

 

I am not scared of death, we cannot stop it from happening it is out of our hands, of course I would want to live as long as possible to experience things - I think death is just the beginning of a journey.

 

The universe - a place where energy never dies, it's always been there. Enjoy your ride!

 

http://www.nderf.org/

Edited by Gaz1985
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Posted
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire
  • Weather Preferences: Cool not cold, warm not hot. No strong Wind.
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire

Talking of big bang theories and how old the universe is etc, reading up on CMB, the study of the earliest light/energy is interesting, remember reading a book on it years ago, was given away on the front cover of an early edition of Focus magazine IIRC, and detailed the early days of its discovery by two radio astronomers from America using a horn to capture the signal.

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Posted
  • Location: Napton on the Hill Warwickshire 500ft
  • Weather Preferences: Snow and heatwave
  • Location: Napton on the Hill Warwickshire 500ft
m

the answer is..... 42......

 

Answer at the moment  is its open. We need to find more dark matter to change that

Edited by stewfox
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Posted
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire
  • Weather Preferences: Cool not cold, warm not hot. No strong Wind.
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire

Answer at the moment  is its open. We need to find more dark matter to chamge that

about 100% of it at a guess Posted Image

Edited by Jax
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Posted
  • Location: North York Moors
  • Location: North York Moors

Just as it is hard to imagine The Universe could somehow have 'always' been there, it is hard to imagine it will never end.Depends what you mean by The Universe most likely there is a truly infinite expanse of space beyond the limits of what we can see or think is there.Eventually the decaying remains of our Universe will interact with a neighbouring 'cell' of expanding Galaxies, and a further imploding Big Bang event will occur.Since what we can see on the edges of our Universe was billions of years ago that may already be happening for all we know.Matter and Energy is never destroyed - it just moves from one state to another.

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Posted
  • Location: Mostly Watford but 3 months of the year at Capestang 34310, France
  • Weather Preferences: Continental type climate with lots of sunshine with occasional storm
  • Location: Mostly Watford but 3 months of the year at Capestang 34310, France

I believe the current theory is that the universe will continue to expand and as it does so the stars and matter will become so widespread that the matter will not be able to form a mass sufficient to form new stars as what happens today - in the meantime the stars in existence will reach the end of their life cycle, so the ultimate will be a multitude of widely spaced cold bodies.

 

This depends on the belief of there being dark matter and dark energy, both of which we don't really know anything about and can only infer its presence through gravitational observations.

 

However what is there to say that there is not more exotic matter than this about.

 

We believe the universe as we know it today came into being from the big bang which was a singularity but where did the matter come from in the first place - was it from a previous universe which had contracted into this singularity? To an extent this makes sense and although we have an expanding universe at the moment, can we be sure that this state will continue to exist or might some other trigger come into play to reverse this process?

 

Until we are able to identify the properties of the dark matter and energy we can't really begin to understand but I suppose if we were to take a look at the rest of the physical world, it does seem that things occur in cycles.

 

The only thing we can say for certain is that since this is going to take say a million to the umpteenth power years to play through none of us will be here to see it.

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Posted
  • Location: Ipswich. (Originally from York)
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder Storms. All extreme weather.
  • Location: Ipswich. (Originally from York)

We're all going to get sucked into a black hole.

But...our solar system and all the stars and other solar systems and galaxies are in the universe. But...is the universe 'in' something even bigger. Something so vast in cannot be comprehended. Just a thought.

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Posted
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire
  • Weather Preferences: Cool not cold, warm not hot. No strong Wind.
  • Location: N.Bedfordshire, E.Northamptonshire

We're all going to get sucked into a black hole.But...our solar system and all the stars and other solar systems and galaxies are in the universe. But...is the universe 'in' something even bigger. Something so vast in cannot be comprehended. Just a thought.

You been watching MiB again?

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Posted
  • Location: Sunderland
  • Weather Preferences: Hot Summer, Snowy winter and thunderstorms all year round!
  • Location: Sunderland

Brane Theory, more especially the Ekpyrotic Universe theory proposed by Paul Steinhardt & Neil Turok....Whilst currently not emperically testable, it is IMO the only current theory that stands up

 

also just to save any confusion and to clarify, Heat Death/Big Freeze are one of the same, and the 'Big Rip' is off the menu. It has almost certainly been ruled out as plausible due to the nature of the cosmological constant

Edited by ajpoolshark
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Posted
  • Location: Sunderland
  • Weather Preferences: Hot Summer, Snowy winter and thunderstorms all year round!
  • Location: Sunderland

A Phase Transition (vacuum instability event) is increasingly more plausible especially after sigma 5 Higgs Boson detections in the LHC, the estimated mass & weight of the higgs is frighteningly close enough to cause quantum tunnelling....The questions being 1) is the universe already in its true vaccuum state (nothing to worry about) and 2) the probability that such an event could take place is estimated to be 1 in 10^100

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