One of the most often quoted scientifically-inspired poems is that of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice that begins with, “Some say the world will end in fire;/ Some in ice.” These two lines aptly depict two opposing views of how not only the world but the entire universe would end.
There are many theories as to how the end of the Universe would be. Among the more popular ones are Big Freeze or Heat Death, Big Rip, Big Crunch, and Big Bounce.
Two of the theories support an infinite expansion: the Big Freeze and the Big Rip. In the Big Freeze, the Universe is predicted to expand forever, thinning out and cooling down. The Big Rip is a more dramatic version wherein everything will be ripped apart, including atoms.
As with the two previously mentioned theories, the Big Crunch and Big Bounce are closely related. The Big Crunch pertains to the prediction that the Universe, after expanding, will reach a point wherein the forces that pull it together will be enough to overcome the ones that favor expansion.
What will follow is a shrinking, better known as the Big Crunch. The Big Bounce takes this theory a step further. Advocates of the Big Bounce believe that the Big Bang and Big Crunch are actually part of a repetitive sequence of events manifested by an oscillatory universe model.
The success of these two main sets of predictions are largely dependent on the rate of expansion as well as the density of the Universe. Current measurement favor the former; specifically that of the Big Freeze.
The roots of this prevailing theory, also known as the Heat Death, can be traced to the Second Law of Thermodynamics which states that the entropy of an isolated system will always increase. Now, since the Universe is considered as an isolated system, then this prediction should hold true.
What then are the consequences of a system that has reached maximum entropy? This would basically mean that usable energy would cease to exist. It’s as if you’ve wound a clock and it ticks for a certain period of time. However, once it winds down, for as long as nobody is there to wind it back up, it will no longer function.
Thus, essentially, even if our species can somehow survive, say, the expansion of the Sun that might eventually eat up our planet, time will come when the laws of physics will simply not allow our surviving successors to live on in this universe.
We’ve got a few articles that touch on the end of the universe here in Universe Today. Here are two of them:
NASA also has some more:
Tired eyes? Let your ears help you learn for a change. Here are some episodes from Astronomy Cast that just might suit your taste:
- The End of the Universe Part 1: The End of the Solar System
- The End of the Universe Part 2: The End of Everything
Sources:
http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/stu/advanced/cosmos_death.html
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030303.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_fate_of_the_universe
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