Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: matthew.burnett on 26/06/2009 11:30:02
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matthew.burnett asked the Naked Scientists:
Hello. I'm hugely interested in the topic of the Big Bang and our glorious yet gargantuan universe that exists!
Would you be able to tell me what would happen if cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) continued to stretch into radio waves and beyond the lowest of all radio frequencies?
Would the energy still be conserved or would the background radiation simply decrease eventually?
Thank you.
What do you think?
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I have a theory.
Due to the increase in the Total Entropy of the Universe, the amount of information that we can gather about the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR)will continue to decrease, eventually it fading away.
But the energy of the Total system shall remain same. I say this because though the CMBR has faded (considering) the total energy from it's initial blast (i.e. the Big Bang) has then rapidly cooled down to from radiation etc. and has not vanished anywhere else.
Then i guess you can call that it obeys the law of Conservation of Energy and mass?
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matthew.burnett asked the Naked Scientists:
Hello. I'm hugely interested in the topic of the Big Bang and our glorious yet gargantuan universe that exists!
Would you be able to tell me what would happen if cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) continued to stretch into radio waves and beyond the lowest of all radio frequencies?
Would the energy still be conserved or would the background radiation simply decrease eventually?
Thank you.
What do you think?
The first law of thermodynamics is not as solid as we once thought. The law is actually defied all the time, due to what is called the Zero-Point Energy Field. So ultimate conservation is not expected.
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The remnant energy of the big bang should be conserved as far as I'm aware.
As Mr. S. said, the zero-point energy, which is an energy associated with space itself, would not be conserved. However, the zero-point energy is a quantum mechanical effect that seems to exist on small scales. No one knows how it works on the large scale of the universe, since the expected contribution of the zero-point energy doesn't agree with what we see on the large scale of the universe.