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from the alas,-none-of-the-authors-was-named-'Jack' dept.
The universe can be a very sticky place, but just how sticky is a matter of debate. That is because for decades cosmologists have had trouble reconciling the classic notion of viscosity based on the laws of thermodynamics with Einstein's general theory of relativity. However, a team from Vanderbilt University has come up with a fundamentally new mathematical formulation of the problem that appears to bridge this long-standing gap.
The new math has some significant implications for the ultimate fate of the universe. It tends to favour one of the more radical scenarios that cosmologists have come up with known as the "Big Rip." It may also shed new light on the basic nature of dark energy.
The new approach was developed by Assistant Professor of Mathematics Marcelo Disconzi in collaboration with physics professors Thomas Kephart and Robert Scherrer and is described in a paper published earlier this year in the journal Physical Review D.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-06/vu-nmo063015.php
[Also Covered By]: http://phys.org/news/2015-06-cosmic-stickiness-favors-big-rip.html
Original Submission
(Score: 5, Informative) by VortexCortex on Thursday July 02 2015, @01:54AM
So just a continuation of the Big Bang and corresponding expansion then?
Current estimates are that we and all the other "visible" matter make up about 10% of the universe. We are the 10% stable foam riding atop the 90% sea of unstable quantum foam. As expansion occurs it may very well be that less stable energy configurations become more stable and new forms of matter are born while older forms of currently stable matter become less stable or stagnant -- weakly or non interactive, like neutrinos or dark matter.
This is only one possible explanation, and we still have no reason for the expansion itself (which has recently been determined to be slower than predicted). Furthermore, "expansion" could merely be attenuation of a standing wave of "existence" over time. There is absolutely no evidence of anything approaching the end as a contraction. There's also no reason, as far as we can tell, why "something" exists rather than "nothing". One of my favorite anecdotes goes something like this: "In the beginning there was infinite nothingness. It was highly improbable that nothing would explode into infinite somethings, so it did just that almost immediately."
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Thursday July 02 2015, @03:50AM
"we and all the other "visible" matter make up about 10% of the universe."
Interesting...I just wonder how much 10% of infinity is?
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 3, Funny) by aristarchus on Thursday July 02 2015, @04:47AM
.I just wonder how much 10% of infinity is?
Well, it is a lot. In fact, 10% of infinity approaches infinity, for some values of infinity, and if you don't accept all that mumbo jumbo about diagonal proofs and so forth. But foam, . . . on top of cappachino, I imagine, the creme de la Creme, that's us! Until the Great Rip, or the Grand Arkleseizure, which ever comes first. I can live with that.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 02 2015, @05:16AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 02 2015, @01:09PM
Well, obviously 10% of infinity is still pretty infinite, although not just as infinite as infinity, since 90% of infinity are missing.
Where it gets really interesting is when you're getting infinitesimally close to infinity.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday July 02 2015, @04:19AM
You seem to have lost some considerations on entropy [google.com] in your assertions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by VortexCortex on Thursday July 02 2015, @05:34AM
You seem to have lost some considerations on entropy
Almost...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 02 2015, @01:26PM
I actually expected a link to this. [multivax.com]
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday July 02 2015, @02:17PM
Say... 20 times hotter than the star, yet no heat can escape the horizon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford