In a surprising revision of our understanding of the lifespan of the universe, Dutch scientists have discovered that the universe will be much faster than previously thought, although still on a nearly incomprehensible timeline.
Their innovative calculations show that the final stellar residue will last about 1078 Years – A sharp decrease from early estimates of 101100 Year. This discovery extends the concept of eagle radiation beyond black holes to all matter in the universe, with fundamental limitations on any possible time.
Hawking Radiation: Not only a black hole
The study, published in the Journal of Cosmology and Antenna Physics, represents our understanding of the decay process in the universe. Black Hole Expert Heino Falcke, quantum physicist Michael Wondrak, and mathematician Walter Van Suijlekom of Radboud University in the Netherlands, collaborated on the interdisciplinary study.
Their work is built on paper in 2023, and the paper shows that only the need for the vision of events, the curvature of time alone can lead to evaporation through a process similar to Hawking’s radiation. Previously, this phenomenon was considered to be applicable only to black holes.
“So the ultimate ending of the universe is much earlier than expected, but luckily it still takes a long time,” said lead author Heino Falcke, putting the incredible timeline on perspective.
Density determines fate
The team’s calculations show a surprisingly elegant relationship: the evaporation time of an object, whose average mass density increases to -3/2 of power. In simpler terms, an object is that the faster it will eventually decay through this quantum process.
This relationship leads to some interesting predictions about the lifespan of different cosmic objects:
- Neutron Stars and Star Black Holes: 1067 Year
- White Dwarf Stars: 1078 Year
- Human Body and the Moon: 1090 Year
Perhaps most surprising is that neutron stars and black holes will still decay at the same rate despite the stronger gravity field of black holes.
“But black holes have no surface,” explains co-author and postdoctoral researcher Michael Wondrak, “they reabsorb some of their own radiation that inhibits the process.”
Mechanics of general attenuation
What exactly happened during this attenuation process? The basic mechanisms are based on the groundbreaking work of Stephen Hawking in 1975, which notes that contrary to Einstein’s theory of relativity, particle and radiation, this may escape from black holes.
At the edge of a black hole, the quantum effect allows two virtual particles to temporarily form. Before they reorganize, one particle is sucked into the black hole, while the other escapes. Over a very long period of time, this process can cause the black hole to evaporate completely.
Dutch researchers have now expanded the concept, showing that any object with the realm of gravity (all objects of mass essentially) has similar quantum effects. The key difference is that ordinary matter is much slower than black holes, but if there is enough time, everything will eventually decay.
Impact on the distant future and past
Are there any remnants in our current universe? New discoveries show that this is only possible if the recurrence time between the universes is less than 10.68 Year. Otherwise, any dense matter in previous cosmic iterations could be dissolved through this quantum process.
The study also shows that original objects with density above 3×1053 g/cm3 Even if they are formed at the beginning of our universe, they will completely evaporate.
Although these timelines dwarf the current age of the universe (about 13.8 billion years), they do set a definite upper limit on how long matter can last – a concept that challenges previous notions of potentially infinite stability of certain objects.
Science meets philosophical miracles
Even if the most stable objects have a limited lifespan, what might this mean? How does this change our view of the permanent nature of the universe? Although these questions go beyond pure science into the field of philosophy, they naturally emerge from this study.
Walter Van Suijlekom, co-author of Walter Van Suijlekom, professor of mathematics at Radboud University, stressed the value of interdisciplinary collaboration: “By asking such questions and studying extreme situations, we hope to better understand this theory, and perhaps one day we will uncover the mysteries of Hawk’s radiation.”
Researchers process these calculations with scientific rigor and playful feeling, and while these findings have far-reaching theoretical importance, they have little practical impact on our daily lives.
After all, as they cleverly point out in their paper, there are other processes that will cause humans and the moon to disappear than ten90 Quantum evaporation takes years to complete the work. However, this study provides a fascinating glimpse into the ultimate fate of all matter in our universe, giving us a greater understanding of the full cosmic life cycle.
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