END OF THE UNIVERSE Isabel R 3 B

END OF THE UNIVERSE Isabel. R 3 B Astronomy

GENERAL THEORY The ultimate fate of the universe is going to be determined by the amount of mass, dark energy, and gravity in the universe. This is because the amount of mass will influence if the force of gravity is strong enough to overcome the Hubble expansion and the force of dark energy. The four major theories that concern the end of the universe are as follows The Big Chill The Big Rip The Big Crunch The Big Slurp

THE BIG CHILL The Big Chill is the end of the universe scenario where the Hubble expansion will continue forever Matter will continue to spread out farther and farther until the universe is a cold and desolate place with mostly empty space and some bits of matter Heat Death is an important concept in this scenario. Heat Death is a proposed possible fate of the universe where the universe approaches a constant temperature (very low) and no thermodynamic differences can be used to do work. In this scenario, once every star is dead no new ones will form and the universe will become uniformly cold and empty, with low energy levels

THE BIG CHILL The Big Chill was the most popular theory of how the universe would end, in fact it was one of the only theories, from the 1800 s until Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity revealed another possibility Now it is still considered one of the most likely scenarios This theory, especially the heat death part, is supported by the laws of thermodynamics, but hinges on the idea that Hubble expansion will never end, that the force of gravity will never be strong enough to stop, slow down, or reverse the expansion of the universe

THE BIG CRUNCH The Big Crunch is basically the idea that the ultimate fate of the universe will be to return to the state it was in the moment before the big bang occurred. This scenario is based on the idea that there is enough matter in the universe that eventually the gravity between all of these objects will slow down expansion, stop it, and then begin to pull everything in the universe back together. This would cause the universe to contract, getting hotter and denser and ending in the Big Crunch

THE BIG CRUNCH The Big Crunch seemed likely scenario to occur in the universe until we learned that the expansion in the universe is speeding up due to dark matter and dark energy Dark energy pushes the universe apart and roughly 70% of our universe is dark energy This discovery makes the big crunch seem much less likely because it means that the universe will most likely continue to speed up in its expansion, not slow down or contract as the big crunch scenario predicts

THE BIG SLURP This scenario says that there will be a fundamental shift in the forces that rule the universe, allowing for a bubble of low energy to form which would expand at close to the speed of light, in much the same way that super cooled water and ice interact. This would destroy everything in our universe very quickly and it would be nearly impossible to see coming because of its speed. This destruction would occur because once in the bubble, everything (electrons, quarks, dark energy, etc. ) would act differently and operate under a different set of rules.

THE BIG SLURP The Big Slurp scenario has some footing in the properties of the Higgs Boson particle Many scientists that support this theory believe that after the big slurp dark energy may behave differently and cause the big crunch to occur If the creation of such a low energy bubble is possible (like the one necessary for this scenario) then quantum mechanics dictates that at some point, somewhere in the universe, it will pop into existence

THE BIG RIP The Big Rip scenario hinges on the idea about dark energy that it represents a cost of creating space-time. This means that as the universe expands and the amount of space expands with it, the amount of dark energy will also increase. As time goes on, this continual increase in dark energy will cause everything in the universe, even atoms, to rip apart This scenario makes use of the idea that everything in the universe has space inside of it and therefore dark energy as well.

THE BIG RIP The Big Rip is the most speculative of the end of the universe scenarios but it can’t be dismissed quite yet. This scenario would be the most dramatic end possible for the universe, and there would be no possibility of recovery of anything in the universe after this event. Things in the universe would rip apart from largest to smallest (ex. First the galaxies would fly away from each other, then the stars and planets within each system would space out, then the planets themselves would explode, finally the atoms would be ripped apart)

CONCLUSION Based on the main theories on how the universe could end, the big rip is the least likely to occur and the big chill is the most likely to be the reason our universe comes to an end. As we learn more about our universe and the rules that govern our existence, we will be able to evaluate with more certainty which, if any, of the end of the universe theories are the most likely As far as we know, our universe isn’t in any danger of coming to an end any sooner than 10100 years from now and long before this ever occurs our own earth will no longer be habitable

REFERENCES Trefil, James. Space Atlas: Mapping the Universe and beyond. n. p. , 2012. Print. Becker, Adam. "How Will the Universe End, and Could Anything Survive? " BBC. N. p. , 2 June 2015. Web. 16 Oct. 2016.