Is Heat Death the end of the Universe?

Question

What happens at Heat Death?

Answer 1

The Heat Death of the Universe is the ultimate extrapolation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, namely that in a closed system, total energy is neither lost nor gained, and entropy in a system will increase. In a nutshell, once energy has been evenly distributed throughout the universe, via stars exploding, and giving off heat etc etc etc, then the universe will be in such low energy state that order (a higher energy state) cannot return.

.

Answer 2

In non-scientific terms it is the result of the natural tendency of hot things to cool off by giving their heat to cold things and cold things to warm up by taking heat from hot things. So in the end all the hot things, like stars, will have given up their heat and the entire universe will be at one medium temperature. Then no more changes can take place. And since things like life and fire are changes where heat is moving from hot to cold, all that would end too..

Answer 3

The heat death is the most widely accepted theory of the end of the Universe.  According to the heat death, stars and matter are getting farther and farther apart after the big bang.  Due to this there will eventually be no matter left in the universe for new stars or galaxies.  The stars will die, and keep expanding.  Then every star will burn out, and eventually dissipate.  The universe will freeze over-ironic for a name like "heat death."

Answer 4

Maybe not.

There's a "new" theory called the Big Rip...my current favorite. Basically, the idea is that the "space between spaces" is expanding faster and faster and that the rate of space creation will overcome the force of gravity.

Read more in the source

Answer 5

The universe is now expancing at an accelerated rate and cooling more and more. Eventually, the universe willl be so huge and sparce, you couldn't see another stars - they would all be to far away. The temperature would be virtually absolute zero - Heat Death.

Answer 6

Yes.  All matter is spread out evenly throughout the universe.  Gravity will keep it all in check.  It can maintain this condition for an indefinite period of time.  Technically, time would stop as no events would occur.

Then there is some outside influence and the whole thing starts again, all powered by gravity.  Then it gets to the half-way point in the Big Crunch which leads immediately to the Big Bang and heads for heat death again.

So we are actually living in the rebound phase of the Universe.  In the eyes of the previous collapsing universe, our time is running backward.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-...