The heat death of the universe is a hypothesized long-term fate in which the continued expansion of the universe eventually disperses all matter and energy so thinly, and evens out temperature differences so completely, that no further thermodynamic work can be done and all physical processes effectively cease. It follows from applying the second law of thermodynamics, which holds that entropy in an isolated system tends to increase, to the universe as a whole over a timescale vastly longer than the current age of the universe. It remains one of several proposed ultimate fates, alongside scenarios such as the Big Rip and Big Crunch, and its likelihood depends on the still-uncertain long-term behavior of dark energy.
Facts
Concept Domain Formulated Year Proposed ByLord Kelvin (William Thomson) 1 Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia, Heat death of the universe, History sectionQuote, Wikipedia, Heat death of the universe, History section
In 1852, Thomson published On a Universal Tendency in Nature to the Dissipation of Mechanical Energy, in which he outlined the rudiments of the second law of thermodynamics summarized by the view that mechanical motion and the energy used to create that motion will naturally tend to dissipate or run down.
Heat death of the universe (Wikipedia)
Lead section
The heat death of the universe (also known as the Big Chill or the Big Freeze) is a scientific hypothesis regarding the ultimate fate of the universe which posits the universe will evolve to a state of no thermodynamic free energy and, having reached maximum entropy, will therefore be unable to sustain any further thermodynamic processes.
In Group: Cosmic Paradoxes and the Fate of the Universe, Lead sentence
The heat death of the universe (also known as the Big Chill or the Big Freeze) is a scientific hypothesis regarding the ultimate fate of the universe which posits the universe will evolve to a state of no thermodynamic free energy and, having reached maximum entropy, will therefore be unable to sustain any further thermodynamic processes.
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