Planck-scale physics is the study of the universe at the smallest possible scales. It is relevant to quantum gravity and to philosophy of physics and to physical cosmology at the largest scales.
There is a growing consensus among physicists that space is granular rather than continuous and so has a smallest size, named after its first proponent, Max Planck.[1][2] The ultimate fate of the universe is dependent on the shape of the universe and what role dark energy will play as the universe ages.
Emerging scientific basis
editTheory
edit[[file:Georges Lemaître]]
The theoretical scientific exploration of the ultimate fate of the universe became possible with Albert Einstein's 1916 theory of general relativity. General relativity can be employed to describe the universe on the largest possible scale. There are many possible solutions to the equations of general relativity, and each solution implies a possible ultimate fate of the universe. Alexander Friedmann proposed a number of such solutions in 1922 as did Georges Lemaître in 1927.[3] In some of these, the universe has been expanding from an initial singularity; this is, essentially, the Big Bang.
See also
editReferences
editAdd http://www.economist.com/node/1606258
- ^ Will the Universe expand forever?
- ^ What is the Ultimate Fate of the Universe?
- ^ Lemaître, Georges (1927). "Un univers homogène de masse constante et de rayon croissant rendant compte de la vitesse radiale des nébuleuses extra-galactiques". Annales de la Société Scientifique de Bruxelles. A47: 49–56. Bibcode:1927ASSB...47...49L. translated by A. S. Eddington: Lemaître, Georges (1931). "Expansion of the universe, A homogeneous universe of constant mass and increasing radius accounting for the radial velocity of extra-galactic nebulæ". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 91: 483–490. Bibcode:1931MNRAS..91..483L. doi:10.1093/mnras/91.5.483.
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Further reading
edit- Adams, Fred; Gregory Laughlin (2000). The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity. Simon & Schuster Australia. ISBN 0-684-86576-9.
External links
edit- Baez, J., 2004, "The End of the Universe".
- Caldwell, R. R.; Kamionski, M.; Weinberg, N. N. (2003). "Phantom Energy and Cosmic Doomsday". Physical Review Letters. 91 (7): 071301. arXiv:astro-ph/0302506. Bibcode:2003PhRvL..91g1301C. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.91.071301. PMID 12935004.
- Vaas, R., 2006, "Dark Energy and Life's Ultimate Future," in Burdyuzha, V. (ed.) The Future of Life and the Future of our Civilization. Springer: 231–247.
- Cosmology at Caltech.[dead link]