From the Editor's Desk

Why physicists now question the fate of the Universe

Ever since we first recognized that the Universe was expanding, one question has dominated the minds of those who study it: how will it all end? Today, we recognize that our Universe began from a much smaller, denser, hotter, and more uniform state: a state that we identify with the hot Big Bang. Over time, that Universe has expanded, cooled, and evolved, but also gravitated: clumping and clustering to form an intricate cosmic web of structure across millions and even billions of light-years. Today, when we use our powerful instruments to look out at the Universe — nearby, at intermediate distances, and to the greatest distances we can measure — we learn what the Universe is made of, and draw conclusions about what its ultimate fate would be.

In the 1960s, we found unambiguous evidence supporting the hot Big Bang. In the 1970s and 1980s, it became clear that our Universe also contained large amounts of dark matter: more dark matter than normal matter, in fact. And starting in the 1990s, we discovered that the Universe — and its expansion rate — were both dominated by dark energy, which behaved as a form of energy inherent to space itself. All of this led us to an astounding conclusion: that based on what we know about the laws of physics and the contents of our Universe, our fate would be to expand forever, with dark energy remaining at a constant energy density for eternity.

Continued here

TradeBriefs: Newsletters for Decision-Makers!

Our advertisers help fund the daily operations of TradeBriefs. We request you to accept our promotional emails.

Want the newsletters, without the promotional mailers?
Get an (ad-free) subscription to TradeBriefs Premium for just $1 per month.