“The final end of the universe is coming much sooner than expected but fortunately it still takes a very long time,” writes Heino Falcke, lead author on a groundbreaking research paper that has shaken the world astrophysical establishment to its foundations. The paper, by Dutch researchers at Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands, pushes forward the hypothesis that the universe would be destroyed in 10⁷⁸ years, far more unorthodox than the generally accepted estimated 10¹¹⁰⁰ years. Even beyond our own universe, it does pose a question as to what all the ancients had to say about what happens with the universe. The need to discover is prompted by Hawking radiation, a phenomenon which was quantified by the genius of Stephen Hawking in 1975. In his study, Hawking would estimate that black holes are not endless cosmic vacuum cleaners but eventually release and disperse over time.
This trumpets Albert Einstein’s prediction that black holes would abound. Researchers Heino Falcke, a black hole expert, quantum physicist Michael Wondrak, and mathematician Walter van Suijlekom at Radboud University have now applied the same principle to other objects gravitationally bound such as neutron stars. For them, in a previously published journal paper by the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, the time would be a function of density evaporation time of an object.
They did not know they had attained the same 10⁶⁷ years black hole and neutron star collapse time. “But black holes have no surface,” explained coauthor and Radboud University postdoctoral researcher Michael Wondrak. “They reabsorb some of their own radiation which inhibits the process.” Physicists also wondered what happens to the rest of the bodies in the universe. The oldest type of such bodies are white dwarfs, whose destiny is to degenerate on a 10⁷⁸ years timescale by Hawking-like radiation. The latest finding is a jaw-dropping flip flop of the earlier work that had assigned the life span of white dwarfs as 10¹¹⁰⁰ years.
With tongue-in-cheek humor, scientists estimated man and the Moon’s evaporation time using Hawking-like radiation and came to an eye-popping 10⁹⁰ years. They did provide, however, that there are certain other processes which would evaporate man and the Moon in an age of these orders.
Not just does this study map the cosmic scales in new language, it gives a new spin to what would be the destiny of the universe.
The research is tracking recent indications dark energy, an invisible force that makes up some 70% of the universe, is in decline. This is a theory in which the universe collapses in on itself to create a “Big Crunch,” a condition under which the universe will collapse into itself, billions of years from now. Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki, his scientist and cosmologist friend, informs him what the consequences would be of such a find: “Now, there is the possibility that everything comes to an end,” he said. “Would we consider that a good or bad thing? I don’t know.” This is playing at the deep scientific and philosophical significance of the work.
The research testifies to the strength of interdisciplinarity, co-author Walter van Suijlekom explains: “By asking these kinds of questions and looking at extreme cases, we want to better understand the theory, and perhaps one day, we will unravel the mystery of Hawking radiation.” The convergence of mathematics, quantum mechanics, and astronomy has gotten us this far where we can look further for such new data, broadening the universe of things we know.
The study concludes the significance of researching Hawking radiation and its relation to the ending of the universe. The research generates momentum for examining prior theories and emerging theories in an attempt to make further progress towards achieving the universe.
Even though the possible end of the universe at an accelerated rate is annoying, it should be noted that this takes billions of years to occur. For Falcke, “Fortunately, it still takes a very long time.” However, the study reminds everyone of the active nature of science and the necessity of questioning our present understanding of the universe.
