3 ms·
I really like this article. I have read a lot of articles that bandy about terms like dark energy, the cosmological constant, and the multiverse. This was the f
by woodandsteel 9y ago
I really like this article. I have read a lot of articles that bandy about terms like dark energy, the cosmological constant, and the multiverse. This was the first thing I have read that clearly explains how they link together.
However, I have a question. The article says that dark energy "presence causes the cosmos to expand ever more quickly, since, as it expands, new space forms, and the total amount of repulsive energy in the cosmos increases" But wouldn't this violate the first law of thermodynamics?
- chowells 9y agoIt wouldn't violate thermodynamics in any meaningful way unless you could actually use that increased energy to produce work. Every formulation of thermodynamics I was able to find is specifically about deriving work from differences in energy.
- woodandsteel 9y agoSee my response to SAI_Peregrinus above.
- tzs 9y agoThis post on Steve Carroll's blog [1], called "Energy Is Not Conserved", answers that question fairly clearly. [1] http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2010/02/22/energy-is-not-conserved/ http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2010/02/22/energy-i...
- woodandsteel 9y agoThank you, that link answers my question.
- SAI_Peregrinus 9y agoThe laws of thermodynamics only hold for closed (finite) systems. The observable universe is finite, but may not be closed (expansion from dark energy). The total universe may be infinite. In either case the laws of thermodynamics don't necessarily apply.
- woodandsteel 9y agoI was referring to the first law of thermodynamics, not the second. See tzs's comment for a link to the correct answer.