Heat death of the universe - hypothetical. the state of the world, to which its development should allegedly lead as a result of the transformation of all types of energy into thermal energy and the uniform distribution of the latter in space; in this case, the universe must come to a state of homogeneous isothermal. equilibrium characterized by max. entropy. T.'s assumption with. in. is formulated on the basis of the absolutization of the second law of thermodynamics, according to which the entropy in a closed system can only increase. Meanwhile, the second law of thermodynamics, although it has a very large scope, has creatures. restrictions.

These include, in particular, numerous fluctuation processes - the Brownian motion of particles, the emergence of nuclei of a new phase during the transition of a substance from one phase to another, spontaneous fluctuations in temperature and pressure in an equilibrium system, etc. Even in the works of L. Boltzmann and J. Gibbs, it was found that the second law of thermodynamics has a statistical. nature and the direction of processes prescribed by it is in fact only the most probable, but not the only possible one. In general relativity theory, it is shown that due to the presence of gravitational fields in giant space. thermodynamic systems, their entropy can increase all the time without them reaching an equilibrium state with max. entropy value, because such a state does not exist at all in this case. The impossibility of the existence of c.-l. The absolute equilibrium state of the Universe is also connected with the fact that it includes structural elements of an ever-increasing order of complexity. Therefore, the assumption of T. s. in. untenable. .

The "thermal death" of the Universe, the erroneous conclusion that all types of energy in the Universe must eventually turn into the energy of thermal motion, which will be evenly distributed over the substance of the Universe, after which all macroscopic processes will stop in it.

This conclusion was formulated by R. Clausius (1865) on the basis of the second law of thermodynamics. According to the second law, any physical system that does not exchange energy with other systems (such an exchange is obviously excluded for the Universe as a whole) tends to the most probable equilibrium state - to the so-called state with maximum entropy. Such a state would correspond to "T. with." Q. Even before the creation of modern cosmology, numerous attempts were made to refute the conclusion about “T. with." V. The most famous of them is the fluctuation hypothesis of L. Boltzmann (1872), according to which the Universe has always been in an equilibrium isothermal state, but according to the law of chance, sometimes in one place, then in another, deviations from this state sometimes occur; they occur less frequently, the larger the area captured and the greater the degree of deviation. Modern cosmology has established that not only the conclusion about “T. with." V., but early attempts to refute it are also erroneous. This is due to the fact that significant physical factors and, above all, gravitation were not taken into account. Taking gravity into account, a homogeneous isothermal distribution of matter is by no means the most probable and does not correspond to the entropy maximum. Observations show that the Universe is sharply non-stationary. It expands, and the substance, almost homogeneous at the beginning of the expansion, later, under the influence of gravitational forces, breaks up into separate objects, clusters of galaxies, galaxies, stars, and planets are formed. All these processes are natural, go with the growth of entropy and do not require violation of the laws of thermodynamics. Even in the future, taking into account gravitation, they will not lead to a homogeneous isothermal state of the Universe - to “T. with." B. The Universe is always non-static and constantly evolving. .

An attempt to extend the laws of thermodynamics to the universe as a whole was made by R. Clausius who put forward the following postulates.

- The energy of the Universe is always constant, that is, the Universe is a closed system.

- The entropy of the universe is always increasing.

If we accept the second postulate, then we must admit that all processes in the Universe are aimed at achieving a state of thermodynamic equilibrium, characterized by a maximum of entropy, which means the greatest degree of chaos, disorganization, energy balancing. In this case, the universe will heat death and no useful work, no new processes or formations will be produced in it (stars will not shine, new stars and planets will form, the evolution of the universe will stop).

Many scientists did not agree with this gloomy prospect, suggesting that along with entropy processes in the Universe, anti-entropy processes must also occur, which prevent the heat death of the Universe.

Among these scientists was L. Boltzmann, who suggested that for a small number of particles, the second law of thermodynamics should not apply , because in this case it is impossible to speak about the state of equilibrium of the system. At the same time, our part of the Universe should be considered as a small part of the infinite Universe. And for such a small area, small fluctuation (random) deviations from the general equilibrium are permissible, due to which the irreversible evolution of our part of the Universe towards chaos generally disappears. There are relatively small areas in the Universe, of the order of our star system, which deviate significantly from thermal equilibrium over relatively short periods of time. In these areas, evolution takes place, that is, development, improvement, violation of symmetry.

In the middle of the twentieth century, a new non-equilibrium thermodynamics, or thermodynamics of open systems , or synergy where the place of a closed isolated system was taken by the fundamental concept of an open system. The founders of this new science were I.R.Prigozhin(1917-2004) and G. Haken (1927).

open system- a system that exchanges matter, energy or information with the environment.

An open system also produces entropy, like a closed one, but unlike a closed one, this entropy does not accumulate in an open system, but is released into the environment. Used waste energy (energy of lower quality - thermal at low temperature) is dissipated in the environment and instead of it, new energy is extracted from the environment (of high quality, capable of changing from one form to another), capable of producing useful work.

Arising for these purposes material structures capable of dissipating used energy and absorbing fresh energy are called dissipative . As a result of this interaction, the system extracts order from the environment, while simultaneously introducing disorder into this environment. With the arrival of new energy, matter or information, the non-equilibrium in the system increases. The former relationship between the elements of the system, which determined its structure, is destroyed. New connections arise between the elements of the system, leading to cooperative processes, that is, to the collective behavior of the elements. This is how one can schematically describe the processes of self-organization in open systems.

An example of such a system is laser work , which produces powerful optical radiation. Chaotic oscillatory movements of particles of such radiation, due to the receipt of a certain portion of energy from the outside, produce coordinated movements. The radiation particles begin to oscillate in the same phase, as a result of which the laser radiation power increases many times over, incommensurate with the amount of pumped energy.

Studying the processes occurring in the laser, the German physicist G. Haken (b.1927) named a new direction synergetics, which in ancient Greek means “joint action”, “interaction”.

Another well-known example of self-organization is the chemical reactions studied by I.Prigozhin. Self-organization in these reactions is associated with the entry into the system from the outside of substances that provide these reactions (reagents), on the one hand, and the removal of reaction products into the environment, on the other hand. Externally, such self-organization can manifest itself in the form of periodically appearing concentric waves or in a periodic change in the color of the reacting solution. A similar chemical reaction was obtained and studied by the famous Belgian chemist of Russian origin I.R.Prigozhin. Prigozhin named his chemical reaction "Brusselator" in honor of the city of Brussels, where Prigogine lived and worked, and where this reaction was first staged.

Here is how Prigogine himself wrote about this: “Suppose that we have two types of molecules: “red” and “blue”. Due to the chaotic movement of molecules, one would expect that at some moment there will be more “red” molecules on the left side of the vessel, and at the next moment there will be more “blue” molecules, and so on. The color of the mixture is difficult to describe: purple with random transitions to blue and red. We will see a different picture when looking at the chemical clock: the entire reaction mixture will have a blue color, then its color will change sharply to red, then back to blue, and so on. Color change occurs at regular intervals. In order to simultaneously change their color, the molecules must somehow maintain a connection with each other. The system must behave as a whole” (Prigozhin I., Stengers I. Order from chaos. M., 1986. P.202-203).

Of course, there is no "collusion" between molecules in the literal sense of the word and could not be. The fact is that at a certain point in time, all molecules began to vibrate in one phase - blue, and then the whole mixture acquired a blue color. After a certain period of time, the molecules began to vibrate in another phase - the red phase, and then the whole mixture turned red, etc., until the action of the reagent ended.

Let's take another example. If we take a transparent circus drum with blue and red balls and begin to rotate it at a certain frequency - the frequency of red, then we, as in the case of molecules, will find that all the balls have turned red. If we change the speed of the drum to the corresponding blue wavelength, we will see that the balls turn blue, etc.

The most illustrative example of self-organization is Benard cells . These are small hexagonal structures that can, for example, form in a layer of butter on a frying pan with an appropriate temperature difference. As soon as the temperature regime changes, the cells disintegrate.

Thus, in order for a new structure to spontaneously line up, it is necessary to set the appropriate environment parameters.

Control parameters- these are the parameters of the environment that create the boundary conditions within which this open system exists (this can be a temperature regime, the corresponding concentration of substances, rotation frequency, etc.).

Order Options- this is the "response" of the system to a change in control parameters (restructuring of the system).

It is obvious that the process of self-organization cannot begin in any system and not under any conditions. Let us consider the conditions under which the process of self-organization can begin.

Necessary conditions for the emergence of self-organization in various systems are as follows:

1. The system must be open , because a closed system, ultimately, must come to a state of maximum disorder, chaos, disorganization in accordance with the 2nd law of thermodynamics;

2. Open the system must be far enough away from the point of thermodynamic equilibrium . If the system is already close to this point, then it will inevitably approach it and, in the end, will come to a state of complete chaos and disorganization. For the point of thermodynamic equilibrium is a strong attractor;

3. The fundamental principle of self-organization is " emergence of order through fluctuations" (I.Prigozhin). fluctuations or random deviations of the system from some average position at the beginning are suppressed and eliminated by the system. However, in open systems, due to the strengthening of non-equilibrium, these deviations increase with time, intensify and, in the end, lead to “loosening” of the former order, to system chaos. In a state of instability, instability, the system will be especially sensitive to initial conditions, sensitive to fluctuations. At this moment, some fluctuation breaks from the macro level of the system to its micro level and selects the further path of the system development, its further restructuring. It is basically impossible to predict how a system will behave in a state of instability, what choice will be made to it. This process is characterized as the principle of "the emergence of order through fluctuations." The fluctuations are random. Therefore, it becomes clear that the emergence of something new in the world is associated with the action of random factors.

For example, the totalitarian society in the Soviet Union was a solid social structure. However, information coming from abroad about the life of other societies, trade (exchange of goods), etc. began to cause deviations in the totalitarian society in the form of free-thinking, discontent, dissent, etc. Initially, the structure of a totalitarian society was able to suppress these fluctuations, but they became more and more, and their strength grew, which led to the loosening and collapse of the old totalitarian structure and its replacement by a new one.

And one more comic example: The Tale of the Turnip. Grandfather planted a turnip. A large turnip has grown. It's time to get her out of the ground. Grandfather dragged and dragged the turnip, but he could not pull it out. Our turnip system is still too stable. The grandfather called the grandmother for help. They dragged, dragged the turnip together, but they could not pull it out. The fluctuations that loosen the turnip are getting stronger, but they are still not enough to destroy the system (the turnip). They called their granddaughter, but they didn’t pull out the turnip either. Then they called the dog Bug, and finally they called the mouse. It would seem that the mouse could make an effort, but it was the “last straw”, which led to a qualitatively new change in the system - its collapse (the turnip was pulled out of the ground). The mouse can be called an unpredictable accident that played a decisive role, or a "small cause of big events";

4. The emergence of self-organization is based on positive feedback . According to the principle of positive feedback, the changes that appear in the system are not eliminated, but intensified, accumulated, which ultimately leads to destabilization, loosening of the old structure and its replacement with a new one;

5. The processes of self-organization are accompanied symmetry breaking . Symmetry means stability, immutability. Self-organization, on the other hand, implies asymmetry, that is, development, evolution;

6. Self-organization can begin only in large systems that have a sufficient number of elements interacting with each other (10 10 -10 14 elements), that is, in systems that have some critical parameters . For each specific self-organizing system, these critical parameters are different.

Lecture number 14. Basic concepts of synergetics. Ability to manage synergistic systems.

Explosive, catastrophic processes have been known to mankind for a long time. Let's say a person traveling in the mountains knew, on the basis of his empirical experience, that a mountain avalanche can collapse suddenly, almost from a breath of wind or an unsuccessful step.

Revolutions and cataclysms were often the result of the last drop of popular discontent, the last random event that overwhelmed the scales. These were typical small causes of big events.

Each of us can remember certain situations of choice that stood in the way of life, and at decisive moments in life, several opportunities opened up before us. We are all included in the mechanisms, where at a critical moment, the moment of a turning point, a decisive choice determines a random event. So, avalanche-like processes, social cataclysms and upheavals, critical situations of choice on the life path of each person ... Is it possible to draw a single scientific basis for all these seemingly different facts? Over the past 30 years, the foundation has been laid for such a universal scientific model, which is called synergy.

As we have seen, synergetics is based on ideas systematic, holistic approach to the world non-linearity (i.e. a lot of variation), irreversibility , deep relationship between chaos and order . Synergetics gives us an image complex world , which is not become, but becoming not just existing, but continuously emerging . This world is evolving nonlinear laws , it is full unexpected , unpredictable turns, related to the choice of further development path.

The subject of synergetics are self-organization mechanisms . These are mechanisms for the formation and destruction of structures, mechanisms that ensure the transition from chaos to order and vice versa. These mechanisms do not depend on the specific nature of the system elements. They are inherent in the inanimate world and nature, man and society. Synergetics is therefore considered an interdisciplinary area of ​​scientific research.

Synergetics, like any other science, has its own language, its own system of concepts. These are such concepts as “attractor”, “bifurcation”, “fractal object”, “deterministic chaos” and others. These concepts should become accessible to every educated person, especially since they can find corresponding analogues in science and culture.

The basic concepts of synergetics are the concepts of "chaos" and "order".

Order- this is a set of elements of any nature, between which there are stable (regular) relationships that repeat in space and time. For example, the formation of soldiers marching in a parade.

Chaos- a set of elements between which there are no stable repeating relationships. For example, a crowd of people running in panic.

The concept of "attractor" close to concept goals. This concept can be revealed as purposefulness, as the direction of the system's behavior, as a stable relatively final state of it. In synergy an attractor is understood as a relatively stable state of the system, which, as it were, attracts the diversity of the system's trajectories determined by different initial conditions. If the system falls into the attractor cone, then it inevitably evolves to this relatively stable state. For example, regardless of the initial position of the ball, it will roll to the bottom of the pit. The state of rest of the ball at the bottom of the pit is the attractor of the motion of the ball.

Attractors subdivided into simple and strange .

Simple attractor(attractor) is the limiting state of the order. The system builds order and improves it not to infinity, but to a level determined by a simple attractor.

strange attractor is the limiting state of system chaotization. The system is chaotic, falling apart, too, not to infinity, but to a level determined by a strange attractor.

concept bifurcation translated from English means a fork with two prongs - befork. They usually talk not about the bifurcation itself, but about bifurcation points . Synergistic sense bifurcation points is - this is the branching point of the possible evolution paths of the system .Passing through branch points, perfect choice closes other paths and thus makes the evolutionary process irreversible. .

Nonlinear system can be defined as a system containing bifurcations.

Very important for synergy is nonlinearity . Under nonlinearity understand:

1. Possibility to choose the way of development of the system (it is understood that the system has not one way of development, but several);

2. The incommensurability of our impact on the system and the result obtained in it. According to the proverb, "a mouse will give birth to a mountain."

What in synergy is called “bifurcation ” has deep analogues in culture. When a fairy-tale knight stands, thinking at a roadside stone at a fork in the road and the choice of the path will determine his future fate, then this is essentially a visual-figurative representation of a bifurcation in a person's life. The evolution of biological species, represented as evolutionary tree , clearly illustrates the branching paths of the evolution of living nature.

It is unlikely that sociological surveys were conducted among the general population on the topic: Why are you interested in knowledge about the Universe? But it is very likely that most ordinary people who are not engaged in scientific research are concerned about the achievements of modern scientists in the field of studying the Universe only in connection with one problem - is our Universe finite, and if so, when to expect universal death? However, such questions are of interest not only to ordinary people: for almost a century and a half, scientists have also been arguing on this topic, discussing the theory of the heat death of the Universe.

Does an increase in energy lead to death?

In fact, the theory of the heat death of the Universe follows logically from thermodynamics and sooner or later had to be expressed. But it was expressed at an early stage of modern science, in the middle of the 19th century. Its essence is to remember the basic concepts and laws of the Universe and apply them to the Universe itself and to the processes taking place in it. So, from the point of view of classical thermodynamics, the Universe can be considered as a closed thermodynamic system, that is, a system that does not exchange energy with other systems.

There is no reason to believe, argue supporters of the theory of heat death, that the Universe can exchange energy with any system external to it, since there is no evidence that there is anything else besides the Universe. Then to the Universe, as to any closed thermodynamic system, the second law of thermodynamics, which is one of the main postulates of the modern scientific worldview, is applicable. The second law of thermodynamics states that closed thermodynamic systems tend to the most probable equilibrium state, that is, to the state with maximum entropy. In the case of the Universe, this means that in the absence of "channels for the output" of energy, the most probable equilibrium state is the state of the transformation of all types of energy into heat. And this means a uniform distribution of thermal energy throughout matter, after which all known macroscopic processes in the Universe will stop, the Universe will seem to be paralyzed, which, of course, will lead to the termination of life.

The universe is not so easy to die a heat death

However, the conventional wisdom that all scientists are pessimists and tend to consider only the most unfavorable options is unfair. As soon as the theory of the heat death of the Universe was formulated, the scientific community immediately began searching for arguments to refute it. And the arguments were found in large numbers. First of all, and the very first of them was the opinion that the Universe cannot be considered as a system that is capable of being in an equilibrium state all the time. Even taking into account the second law of thermodynamics, the Universe can generally reach an equilibrium state, but its individual sections can experience fluctuations, that is, some energy emissions. These fluctuations do not allow the process of converting all types of energy into exclusively thermal energy to start.

Another opinion that opposes the theory of heat death points to the following circumstance: if the second law of thermodynamics were really applicable to the Universe to an absolute degree, then heat death would have come a long time ago. Since if the Universe exists for an unlimited amount of time, then the energy accumulated in it should already have been enough for heat death. But if there is still not enough energy, then the Universe is an unstable, developing system, that is, it is expanding. Consequently, in this case, it cannot be a closed thermodynamic system, since it expends energy on its own development and expansion.

Finally, modern science disputes the theory of heat death of the Universe from other positions. The first is the general theory of relativity. , according to which the Universe is a system located in a variable gravitational field. From this it follows that it is unstable and the law of entropy increase, that is, the establishment of an equilibrium state of the Universe is impossible. In the end, today's scientists agree that the knowledge of mankind about the Universe is not enough to unequivocally state that it is a closed thermodynamic system, that is, it has no contacts with some external systems. Therefore, it is not yet possible to finally confirm or refute the theory of heat death of the Universe.

Alexander Babitsky

The second law (beginning) of thermodynamics says that the internal energy of heat (heat) cannot independently transfer from a less heated object to a more heated object.

As a result of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, any physical system that does not exchange energy with other systems tends to the most probable state of equilibrium - to the state with the highest entropy (a value characterizing the degree of disorder and thermal state of the physical system). This law was first described by Sadi Carnot in 1824. As a consequence of this, already in 1852, William Kelvin proposed a hypothesis about the future “thermal death of the Earth” in the course of the process of cooling our planet to a lifeless state. In 1865, Rudolf Clausius extended this hypothesis to the entire universe.

In 1872, the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann attempted to quantify entropy using the formula S = k * ln W (where, S is the entropy, k is the Boltzmann constant, W is the number of microstates realizing the macrostate. A microstate is the state of an individual component of the system, and a macrostate — the state of the system as a whole.

Even more evidence of the validity of the hypothesis was the discovery of the thermal radiation of the Universe, which arose during the recombination (combination of protons and electrons into atoms) of primary hydrogen, which happened after 379 thousand years. The recombination process occurs at temperatures of 3 thousand Kelvin, while the current temperature of the cosmic microwave background radiation, determined from its maximum, is only 2.7 Kelvin. The study of the CMB showed that it is isotropic (uniform) for any direction in the sky at a level of 99.999%.

Astronomical observations allow you to build the so-called. the Madau-diagram, which shows the dependence of the star formation rate on .

Studying the statistics of quasars (nuclei of active galaxies) makes it possible to independently estimate the rate of star formation. The 2DF survey conducted in 1997-2002 on the Australian AAT telescope studied about 10,000 quasars in a sky area of ​​1.5 thousand square degrees in the regions of both galactic poles.

Another proof of the correctness of the theory of the future “thermal death of the Universe” was the research of nuclear physics, which showed that the binding energy of nucleons (protons and neutrons) in the nucleus increases as their number in the nucleus of most chemical elements increases.

The consequence of this dependence was that thermonuclear fusion reactions involving lighter chemical elements (for example, hydrogen and helium) lead to the release of much more energy in the interiors of stars than thermonuclear reactions involving heavier chemical elements. In addition, theoretical studies at the end of the 20th century suggested that they are not eternal, but gradually evaporate under the action (the hypothetical radiation of black holes, which mainly consists of photons).

Arguments against the hypothesis of “heat death” of the Universe

Doubts about the validity of the hypothesis of the inevitable “thermal death of the Universe” in the future can be divided into several points (see illustration of the theory of the Big Rip of the Universe).

There is uncertainty in predicting future changes in the volume of our universe. There is both the theory of the Big Rip of the Universe (accelerated expansion of the Universe to infinity), and the theory of the Big Compression of the Universe (in the future the Universe will begin to shrink). The uncertainty between these options is caused by recent discoveries of mysterious dark matter and energy.

There is uncertainty about the number of existing Universes, and the possibility of communication between them. On the one hand, the photometric paradox (the Szezo-Olbers paradox) of the dark sky speaks of the finiteness of the size and age of our Universe, as well as the absence of its connection with other Universes.

On the other hand, it follows from the principle of mediocrity (the Copernican principle) that our Universe is not unique, and there must be an infinite number of other Universes with a different set of physical constants. In addition, modern physics admits the existence of space-time tunnels (wormholes) between different Universes.

When an ordinary substance is cooled (its transition to a solid state), its entropy does not increase, but rather decreases:

The key points of the theory of “thermal death” of the Universe are the possibility of proton decay and the existence of “Hawking radiation”, but these hypothetical phenomena have not yet been proven experimentally.

There is great uncertainty about the influence of life and intelligence on the dynamics of the entropy of the Universe. In the question of the influence of unintelligent life forms on the entropy of the Universe, there is little doubt that life reduces entropy. As evidence for this, we can cite the facts of a more complex nature of living organisms compared to any inorganic chemicals. The surface of our planet due to the biosphere looks much more diverse compared to the “dead” surface , or . In addition, the simplest living organisms are seen in the activity of enriching the earth's atmosphere with oxygen (biogenic oxygen), as well as generating rich mineral deposits (biogenesis).

At the same time, the question remains unanswered: does intelligent life (that is, man) increase or decrease the entropy of the Universe? On the one hand, the human brain is the most complex form known among living organisms, as well as the fact that scientific and technological progress has allowed people to reach unprecedented heights in knowledge and design, including the synthesis of chemical elements and elementary particles that are not observed in nature. . Modern human civilization is able to prevent major natural disasters (forest fires, floods, mass epidemics, etc.) and is one step away from the possibility of preventing planetary disasters (falling small asteroids and comets).

On the other hand, human civilization is also distinguished by “entropic” tendencies. The destructive power of weapons arsenals is growing along with an increase in the number of dangerous chemical and nuclear industries, the mining industry in just decades is able to devastate mineral deposits that have accumulated on the planet for many hundreds of millions of years. The development of agriculture has led to the deforestation of much of the surface of our planet, and also contributes to soil degradation and entanglement. Poaching, greenhouse gas emissions (possible ocean acidification), etc. are rapidly reducing the biodiversity of our planet, in connection with which environmentalists classify the current time as a new mass extinction. In addition, in recent decades, there has been a strong decline in the birth rate in the most developed countries, it is possible that this demographic situation was the result of the prohibitive complication of the life of human civilization.

In connection with all these trends, the near future of human civilization presents a huge number of possibilities: from the epic picture of space colonization of the entire galaxy, along with the construction of Dyson spheres, the rise of artificial intelligence and establishing contact with extraterrestrial civilizations, to a rollback to the eternal Middle Ages on a planet with undermined mineral and biological resources. The Fermi Paradox (The Great Silence of the Universe) adds even more uncertainty to the question of the influence of life and mind on the dynamics of the entropy of the Universe, since there is a huge range for its explanation: from the huge rarity of biospheres and intelligent civilizations in the Universe to the hypothesis that our Earth is a kind of “ reserve" or "matrix" in the world of intelligent supercivilizations.

The modern idea of ​​the "heat death" of the Universe

Currently, physicists are considering the following sequence of evolution of the Universe in the future, subject to its further expansion at the current rate:

• 1-100 trillion (1012) years - the completion of the formation of stars in the Universe and the extinction of even the latest red dwarfs. After this moment, only stellar remnants will remain in the Universe: black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs.
• 1 quadrillion (1015) years - all planets will leave their orbits around stars due to gravitational disturbances from close flybys of other stars.
• 10-100 quintillion (1018) years - all planets, brown dwarfs and stellar remnants will leave their galaxies due to constant gravitational perturbations from each other.
• 100 quintillion (1018) years - the approximate time of the fall of the Earth into the Sun due to the emission of gravitational waves, if the Earth survived the red giant stage and remained in its orbit.
• 2 anvigintillion (1066) years - the approximate time for the complete evaporation of a black hole with the mass of the Sun.
• 17 septecillion (10105) years is the approximate time for the complete evaporation of a black hole with a mass of 10 trillion solar masses. This is the end of the era of black holes.

In the future, the future of the Universe falls into two possible options, depending on whether the proton is a stable elementary particle or not:

• A) Proton is an unstable elementary particle;
• A1) 10 decillion (1033) years - the smallest possible half-life of a proton according to the experiments of nuclear physicists on Earth;
• A2) 2 undecillion (1036) years - the smallest possible time for the decay of all protons in the Universe;
• A3) 100 dodecillion (1039) years is the longest possible proton half-life, which follows from the hypothesis that the Big Bang is explained by inflationary cosmological theories, and that the decay of the proton is caused by the same process that is responsible for the predominance of baryons over antibaryons in the early Universe;
• A4) 30 tredecillion (1041) years is the maximum possible decay time for all baryons in the Universe. After this time, the era of black holes should begin, since they will remain the only existing celestial objects in the Universe;
• A5) 17 seventeen billion (10105) years is the approximate time for complete evaporation of even the most massive black holes. This is the time of the end of the era of black holes, and the onset of the era of eternal darkness, in which all objects of the Universe decayed to subatomic particles and slowed down to the lowest energy level.

B) Proton is a stable elementary particle;

B1) 100 vigintillion (1063) years - the time during which all bodies in solid form, even at absolute zero, turn into a “liquid” state, caused by the effect of quantum tunneling - migration to other parts of the crystal lattice;

B2) 101500 years - the appearance of hypothetical iron stars due to the processes of cold nucleosynthesis, going through quantum tunneling, during which light nuclei are converted into the most stable isotope - Fe56 (according to other sources, the most stable isotope is nickel-62, which has the highest binding energy .). At the same time, heavy nuclei also turn into iron due to radioactive decay;

B3) 10 in 1026 - 10 in 1076 years - an estimate of the time range during which all matter in the universe accretes into black holes.

The era of black holes

And in conclusion, we can note the assumption that after 10 in 10120 years, all matter in the Universe will reach a minimum energy state. That is, this will be the hypothetical onset of the “thermal death” of the Universe. In addition, mathematicians have the concept of the Poincaré return time.

This concept means the probability that sooner or later any part of the system will return to its original state. A good illustration of this concept is the case when in a vessel divided into two parts by a partition, one of the parts contains a certain gas. If the partition is removed, then sooner or later the time will come when all the gas molecules will be in the original half of the vessel. For our Universe, the Poincare return time is estimated to be fantastically large.

The theory of "heat death" of the universe has become popular in popular culture. A good illustration of this theory was the clip of the group Complex Numbers: “Inevitability”, as well as Isaac Asimov’s science fiction story “The Last Question”.

Heat Death of the Universe ("Heat death" of the Universe,)

the erroneous conclusion that all types of energy in the Universe must eventually turn into the energy of thermal motion, which will be evenly distributed over the substance of the Universe, after which all macroscopic processes will stop in it.

This conclusion was formulated by R. Clausius (1865) on the basis of the second law of thermodynamics (See Second law of thermodynamics). According to the second law, any physical system that does not exchange energy with other systems (such an exchange is obviously excluded for the Universe as a whole) tends to the most probable equilibrium state - to the so-called state with maximum entropy (See Entropy). Such a state would correspond to "T. with." B. Even before the creation of modern cosmology (See Cosmology), numerous attempts were made to refute the conclusion about “T. with." C. The most famous of them is the fluctuation hypothesis of L. Boltzmann (1872), according to which the Universe has always been in an equilibrium isothermal state, but according to the law of chance, sometimes in one place, then in another, deviations from this state sometimes occur; they occur less frequently, the larger the area captured and the greater the degree of deviation. Modern cosmology has established that not only the conclusion about “T. with." V., but early attempts to refute it are also erroneous. This is due to the fact that significant physical factors and, above all, gravitation were not taken into account. . Taking gravity into account, a homogeneous isothermal distribution of matter is by no means the most probable and does not correspond to the entropy maximum. Observations show that the Universe is sharply non-stationary. It expands, and the substance, almost homogeneous at the beginning of the expansion, later, under the influence of gravitational forces, breaks up into separate objects, clusters of galaxies, galaxies, stars, and planets are formed. All these processes are natural, go with the growth of entropy and do not require violation of the laws of thermodynamics. Even in the future, taking into account gravitation, they will not lead to a homogeneous isothermal state of the Universe - to “T. with." B. The Universe is always non-static and constantly evolving.

Lit.: Zeldovich Ya. B., Novikov I. D., Structure and evolution of the Universe, M., 1975.

I. D. Novikov.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what the "Heat Death of the Universe" is in other dictionaries:

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HEAT DEATH OF THE UNIVERSE- an erroneous conclusion made in the XIX century. on the basis of the second law of thermodynamics (see), that all types of energy in the Universe must eventually turn into the energy of thermal motion, which will be evenly distributed over the substance of the Universe, after ... ... Great Polytechnic Encyclopedia

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Books

• Worlds of Cthulhu, Lovecraft Howard Phillips. Lovecraft's prose is an ideal reflection of the inner world of a person in a state of existential crisis: the cosmos is cold and indifferent, life is finite, there is no higher in words and deeds...