"The sun will turn dark as a hairdresser, and the moonwill not give his light ... The powers of heaven will be shaken and all the elements will be extinguished ... "These words were uttered about two thousand years ago, in artistic images describing how the end of time or the thermal death of the Universe will occur. But eighteen centuries passed, while researchers approached the study of this problem from a scientific point of view. In fact, as soon as mankind discovered the basic laws of thermodynamics, this question sooner or later had to arise. Arguing logically, if any natural principle operates in a closed system, why not assume that this same trend works in relation to the whole universe?
For the first time the hypothesis of the thermal death of the universe wasnominated by William Thompson in 1852, but later, in 1865, it was elaborated in more detail by R. Clausius. He extrapolated to space the second law of thermodynamics. According to this rule, every closed system tends to equilibrium when the energy of the radiation goes into the thermal one. "Death" comes when the maximum level of entropy is reached. At that moment, there is no exchange of energy, since all of it passes into heat. And since there is no reason to assume that there is anything other than the cosmos, Clausius concludes, our universe can also be viewed as a closed system, and the same law operates in it.
Naturally, neither Thompson nor Clausius evenWe assumed that the heat death of the universe happen soon, however, the forecasts of even very distant end of the world caused a stir in the scientific community, and spawned a variety of refute this hypothesis. As early as 1872, the scientist L. Boltzmann advanced the theory of fluctuations. According to her, our universe is too huge and complex to die such a simple death. She always remained and will remain in a state of equilibrium isothermal, but in different parts of its permanent deviation from this condition occur, and always will be. That is, such outbursts, energy emissions will not allow the mechanism of transfer of all energy of the universe into thermal energy.
Modern science neither confirmed nor deniedthe hypothesis that the thermal death of the universe will inevitably come. The concept of the Big Bang, allegedly occurred about 14 billion years ago and gave birth to everything, does not prove yet that in cosmic space only relic radiation operates. We must also take into account the effect of an alternating gravitational field. The theory of A. Friedman deserves special attention: the universe filled with gravitating matter is not stationary, it either expands or contracts. And if so, the increasing entropy does not lead the system as a whole to thermodynamic equilibrium.
The thermal death of the universe can be setunder the question and from the positions of the general theory of relativity. We still do not know too much about our world to judge with absolute certainty, whether our world will be closed and whether there is something beyond it. Perhaps it is influenced by other external forces and systems? The laws of physics known to us need not necessarily be applicable on the scale of an infinite cosmos, say advocates of the eternity of radiation in the universe. The stars light up and go out, but the system itself is in equilibrium, which, however, does not lead to a thermal death of everything.
Despite the fact that the concept of a possible demiseThe universe is neither confirmed nor disproved by modern science, this question began to worry not only "physicists", but also "lyricists". Especially inspiration for the possible death of all living science-fiction writers. So, Isaac Asimov foretold literally the chilling end of all life in his story "The Last Question." The thermal death of the whole organics formed the basis of many Japanese cartoons and anime serials.
