Some interesting discoveries have been announced, discoveries that concern the future of the universe. Over the past fifty years, scientists have accumulated evidence that mostly has supported the "Big Bang" theory, the theory that the universe began with an explosion of energy and matter. Astronomers have noticed that everything in the cosmos seems to be running away from itself. Every chunk of matter gets farther and farther way from every other chunk. Since the birth of the universe some 14 billion years ago, every one of our billions of galaxies, every star, and every atom has continued to be propelled along by the momentum of that first explosion.
The force of gravity works to counteract this momentum. Gravity works to pull all the chunks of matter in the universe together. One important research question, therefore, is whether gravity's pull eventually will reverse the direction of the universe's motion, resulting in a "Big Crunch" as all the matter of the universe returns to the same spot from whence it came. If there is enough matter in the universe, the Big Crunch is inevitable. If not, the universe will expand forever.
According to recent announcements, the universe has only a fifth of the mass necessary to stop the expansion. Independent research projects have analyzed the movement of supernovas to account for both momentum and gravity and to estimate the total amount of matter in the universe. The results of these studies discount the Big Crunch theory. Specifically, the universe will not be stopped by gravity but instead will continue to expand.
The most intriguing finding from these studies, however, is not that the universe expanding, but that its rate of expansion is increasing. These studies, as well as studies of radio galaxies, suggest the existence of a "cosmological constant." This phenomenon works at great distances to repel matter from itself. The idea was first considered by Albert Einstein but it has only now received empirical support.
Physicists will have to work out the details of the phenomenon. According to one cosmologist, it is a property of space itself. For the rest of us, we have a new opportunity to contemplate where the universe in which we live is headed. Consider the universe, with all matter accelerating outward, traveling faster and faster. Entropy will work to bring all energy from higher to lower energy states. The temperature of the universe will approach absolute zero. Matter and energy will become more evenly distributed through space. Chunks of matter will break into smaller chunks, eventually crumbling to tiny particles hurtling through space.
As the speed of the matter begins to approach the speed of light, Einstein's relativity equations will become relevant; as matter travels faster and faster, it will shift the progress of time, slowing time down. As the acceleration continues, the particles will blur the barrier between matter and energy, eventually losing virtually all mass. Every particle of the universe will reach the speed of light and will become light.
At that moment, everything we consider "real" will cease to exist. There will be nothing that is either matter or energy. There will be no space or distance. Time will have no meaning. Nothing and everything will be both finite and infinite. The entire cosmos will be radiance. Existence will be freed from the bounds of reality.
From this perspective, where we are headed sounds like Nirvana.
Written 1 - 14 - 98
Notes:
Cosmological constant researchers include
Neta Bahcall, Princeton University
David Spergel, Princeton University
Saul Perlmutter, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
Links to other sites on the Web
David Spergel's Home Page
Neta A. Bahcall
Saul Perlmutter
Karnstein's College
Copyright 1998 Karnstein
karnstein@geocities.com
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