Is there a limit to the Universe’s size? Or isn’t it? There are several hypotheses and viewpoints on this subject in the scientific community.
There is no dark energy in a universe with limits, according to a recent Russian hypothesis. But what is beyond the cosmos, and what would the edge of the universe look like in such circumstances?
For a long time, ordinary stuff — stars, planets, asteroids, comets, and extremely rarefied intergalactic gas – was thought to fill deep space. However, in this situation, the 20th-century discovery of rapid expansion defies the law of gravity, which states that bodies are attracted to one another. The expansion of the Universe would be slowed by gravitational forces, but it would not be accelerated in any way.
Then came the idea that the Universe is largely made up of “dark energy,” which has unique qualities, rather than regular matter. It is said to have a negative pressure. However, no one understands what it is or how it works, although one hypothesis claims that dark energy makes up 70% of the Universe.
Despite the fact that there are disagreements concerning its existence, several ideas about the end of the Universe have an impact on the concept of such matter’s existence, either directly or indirectly.
We provide for your consideration both scientific ideas that are diametrically opposed to this subject and those that have no bearing on it at all, with the goal of answering the question as sensibly as possible: does our Universe have an end or not?
The cosmos does not have an end, but it will continue to grow.
According to a theory proposed by physicists at Kaliningrad’s Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, the Universe has limits but lacks the dark energy indicated before.
However, while this theory “holds back” the entire universe within certain bounds, it does not provide a definite answer as to what the end of the Universe will look like if it continues to expand.
“The fact that our Universe is expanding was found about a century ago, but scientists didn’t grasp how exactly this happened until the 1990s of the previous century, when powerful telescopes (including orbital telescopes) arose and the age of accurate cosmology started.”
“Observations and data analysis revealed that the Universe is not only expanding, but growing with acceleration, which began three to four billion years after the Universe’s formation,” according to the scientific literature. Domestic scholars are certain that the acceleration of expansion is the criterion for determining whether or not the universe has a limit.
Their theory is based on the notion that the Universe, instead of dark energy, has an impact comparable to the Casimir effect, if we think the Universe has an end, maybe in the shape of walls. The effect is amplified by these barriers.
Under the influence of quantum fluctuations in a vacuum, the Casimir effect is the mutual attraction of conducting uncharged things (for example, plates next to each other). We’re talking about vacuum oscillations caused by the production and disappearance of virtual particles in it, roughly speaking.
The more closely the bodies are together, the more actively particle formation between them is prevented. As a result, the pressure between the bodies is less than the pressure exerted on them from the outside, and photon birth is unrestricted. This is how the law of attraction operates.
According to experts from Kaliningrad, a comparable phenomenon may be seen in the Universe — between its frontiers, where the mentioned particle pressure does not exist. The Universe expands at a faster rate due to pressure on the frontiers from our side, that is, from the inside.
A soap bubble with the potential to rupture.
Andreas Albrecht, a colleague from the University of California, proposes an idea that is quite similar to that of the Baltic scientists. He also thinks that, despite the cosmos’s ongoing expansion, the end of the universe exists. Albrecht, on the other hand, is a member of the camp of scientists who believe the growth will finally come to a halt.
Furthermore, he conveys throughout his writings the belief that, after it has achieved its maximum, the ultimate Universe would be somewhat larger than the space we perceive now. In terms of numbers, this represents barely 20% of the current situation. In his own conclusions, the foreign expert does not rule out the possibility of dark energy.
To make his hypothesis more accessible, he recommends depicting the Universe as a soap bubble with a fixed size. Albrecht, however, as a scientist, does not dare to specify the location of the universe’s end and what is beyond its bounds, ostensibly due to a lack of facts.
The end-of-the-universe wave hypothesis
It’s tough to hold Albrecht responsible for the absence of information. According to the Big Bang hypothesis, this is explained by a feature of the cosmos known as cosmic background radiation, which was produced with the very first atoms.
It prevents astronomers from studying distant galaxies and their stars, since it is a natural barrier to their evolution and an opportunity to peer beyond the edge of the Universe, supposing it exists.
Relic radiation, on the other hand, permits professionals to evaluate the wave spectrum of space. Scientists working in this field came to the conclusion that if the Universe is genuinely infinite, it must include waves with a wide range of wavelengths.
However, the WMAP, which was launched by NASA to study the cosmic microwave background radiation, has not detected any significant waves in its nine years of operation. It was discovered that outer space possesses a restricted spectrum of waves, implying that the universe’s end exists.
However, astrophysicists have not yet been able to identify the universe’s exact structure and bounds. However, all of the same waves in space, or their vibrations, can aid in this investigation.
It is possible to discern what is at the end of the Universe, what form it has, and what boundaries it has thanks to the numerous types that develop in space. It’s only a matter of waiting, as such research might take years.
