They say that accelerating expansion due to the repulsive forces of matter together with entropy dictates this end. As galaxies move further and further apart, there will be less concentrated heat and light to keep things 'cooking', and as stars burn out fewer will be born as a result of this lowered concentration of heat and light. Entropy will assure that complex forms will degrade into less organized states.
Near the end, they predict a universe filled with black holes, but say they too will degenerate and die.
But here is where they lost me, and I'll share some of the questions and thoughts that came to me while watching:
If a black hole is a center of gravitation force so powerful that NOTHING can escape, how would entropy work? Black holes will continue to pull in matter no matter how cold and dark the matter is, and no energy will escape. So what could lead to black hole death?
Maybe entropy is suspended in black holes. Perhaps, in the universe the TV show depicts, black holes will be a saving grace.
As matter in the universe cools to absolute zero, perhaps the repulsive forces will weaken, slowing or reversing expansion. And maybe the ever growing black holes will provide enough gravitational force to pull matter back together.
Maybe the black holes will coalesce eventually into a single point of gravity, resulting in another big bang?
Or maybe the energy released when matter collapses past the event horizons of countless black holes will heat the matter in the universe, restoring the repulsive forces, resulting in another era of expansion. And so on, in an endless cycle.
Of course, as a non-mathematician, I lack the tools to explore these questions further than simply posing them.
Black holes and entropy - fun to think about on a cloudy, wet day, fueled by a post-Halloween sugar high.
Posts
2 comments:
What are your thoughts on a parallel universe?
I've heard enough about 'String Theory' to be horribly confused by it, but I gather that it supports parallel dimensions, some or all of which could be considered alternate universes.
Whatever the reality of parallel universes, they are certainly a convenient way to account for any failure in this universe of the conservation of matter and energy.
Like this - maybe entropy works in black holes because the contained energy is 'leaking' into another parallel universe.
Nice, 'huh?
Post a Comment