Will the universe expand indefinitely?
Energy is conserved - it cannot be created or destroyed, so the amount of energy in the universe is constant and has always been constant. The level of energy of the universe must have been determined before or during the big bang.
So if E=mc^2 and energy and mass are two forms of the same thing, then the universe can only attain a certain mass until all the energy in the universe has been expended, at which point it would stop expanding.
Am I correct?
So if E=mc^2 and energy and mass are two forms of the same thing, then the universe can only attain a certain mass until all the energy in the universe has been expended, at which point it would stop expanding.
Am I correct?
Scroll to see replies
The universe cannot expand indefinitely if time is not infinite. Therefore it is absolute, and guaranteed to set off a second big bang to end this universe, one of many others.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by jf1994
Energy is conserved - it cannot be created or destroyed, so the amount of energy in the universe is constant and has always been constant. The level of energy of the universe must have been determined before or during the big bang.
So if E=mc^2 and energy and mass are two forms of the same thing, then the universe can only attain a certain mass until all the energy in the universe has been expended, at which point it would stop expanding.
Am I correct?
So if E=mc^2 and energy and mass are two forms of the same thing, then the universe can only attain a certain mass until all the energy in the universe has been expended, at which point it would stop expanding.
Am I correct?
Increase in size does not mean increase in mass. It just means that the mass is more spread out.
Original post by Hollywood Hogan
The universe cannot expand if time is not infinite. Therefore it is absolute, and guaranteed to set off a second big bang to end this universe, one of many others.
This makes no sense. The universe is expanding right now.
Original post by james22
Increase in size does not mean increase in mass. It just means that the mass is more spread out.
This makes no sense. The universe is expanding right now.
This makes no sense. The universe is expanding right now.
I mean't it cannot expand indefinitely.
Original post by Hollywood Hogan
I mean't it cannot expand indefinitely.
I think (a physicist may correct me here) that it can expand infinitely without infinite time.
Original post by james22
I think (a physicist may correct me here) that it can expand infinitely without infinite time.
Nope, there isn't any proof of that. Even the great Mathematicians haven't answered that before, but they suppose it is logical to expect that nothing lasts forever, infinity included.
Original post by Hollywood Hogan
Nope, there isn't any proof of that. Even the great Mathematicians haven't answered that before, but they suppose it is logical to expect that nothing lasts forever, infinity included.
Can I ask what your academic background in this area is?
Original post by james22
I think (a physicist may correct me here) that it can expand infinitely without infinite time.
No it can't, the universe cannot be infinite due to too many paradoxes. Plus it is not expanding faster then light.
Original post by james22
Can I ask what your academic background in this area is?
Medical Sciences
Original post by Aph
No it can't, the universe cannot be infinite due to too many paradoxes. Plus it is not expanding faster then light.
This is totally false. The universe is, right now, expanding faster than the speed of light.
I have never heard of any reason (currently accepted) as to why the universe cannot be infinite in size.
Original post by Aph
No it can't, the universe cannot be infinite due to too many paradoxes. Plus it is not expanding faster then light.
Exactly.
Original post by Hollywood Hogan
Medical Sciences
Can you elaborate on your previous post then? I wasn't really sure what it meant.
The universe could certainly last forever (heat death).
Original post by james22
This is totally false. The universe is, right now, expanding faster than the speed of light.
I have never heard of any reason (currently accepted) as to why the universe cannot be infinite in size.
I have never heard of any reason (currently accepted) as to why the universe cannot be infinite in size.
No it's not, have you heard of hubbles constant? That answers all of it.
Original post by Aph
No it's not, have you heard of hubbles constant? That answers all of it.
How does Hubbles constant say that the universe cannot expand faster than light, or that the universe cannot be infinite in size?
Original post by james22
Can you elaborate on your previous post then? I wasn't really sure what it meant.
The universe could certainly last forever (heat death).
The universe could certainly last forever (heat death).
The size of the universe is governed by the theory of infinity, which leads to paradoxes that would render the possibility of an infinite universe impossible. The size may be so huge that we as humans cannot comprehend the number, but it does have an edge, and will end in a second big bang. And our universe is but one of a near infinite many others, but that is another story . . .
Original post by james22
How does Hubbles constant say that the universe cannot expand faster than light, or that the universe cannot be infinite in size?
Hubbles constant is the rate of expantion and it doesn't give a super luminal expantion so the universe isn't groaning faster the light.
Original post by Hollywood Hogan
The size of the universe is governed by the theory of infinity, which leads to paradoxes that would render the possibility of an infinite universe impossible.
Such as?
The size may be so huge that we as humans cannot comprehend the number, but it does have an edge, and will end in a second big bang. And our universe is but one of a near infinite many others, but that is another story . . .
This is just baseless assumptions. The current model for the universe most widely accepted is a heat death, which means that the universe will be around forever.
Original post by james22
Such as?
This is just baseless assumptions. The current model for the universe most widely accepted is a heat death, which means that the universe will be around forever.
This is just baseless assumptions. The current model for the universe most widely accepted is a heat death, which means that the universe will be around forever.
Depends which Mathematician you have listened to.Even Einstein doubted whether the universe was infinite.
Original post by james22
Such as?
.
.
You need to understand that this is a gigantic subject that I cannot cover in a few sentences. But if the universe is infinite it follows that universes are also infinite, and that you and I are infinite in other Earth planets that are infinite in other galaxies that are infinite . . . on and on and on. So that one can say if the universe is infinite, everything else is also.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Aph
Hubbles constant is the rate of expantion and it doesn't give a super luminal expantion so the universe isn't groaning faster the light.
Just google it. The universe is expanding faster than the speed of light.
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