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Physicists have devised a number of theories to explain how the universe could end, including Big Rip, Heat Death, and Big Crunch, but now, there’s another to add to the list: the decomposition of the void. The Higgs energy field that permeates our universe varies in intensity according to its potential, which is in one of two states: a true vacuum or a false vacuum. A true vacuum is the lowest-energy stable state, while a false vacuum suggests that the universe is somewhat, but not completely, stable, known to scientists as “metastable.”
The problem is that a universe sitting in the false vacuum could, through random quantum fluctuations, suddenly find part of itself swallowed up by another true vacuum universe, which means disaster.
Professor Brian Cox explained in his two-part film, “The Life of a Universe”, how this might apply to life on Earth.
He said in 2017: “What if inflation doesn’t stop at once, but only in patches? Our Big Bang would be a small event in an ever-inflated space.
“There would be other patches stopping and starting and you would get another universe and that process could go on forever.
“So even though our universe dies, other universes are constantly being created.
“This is called the inflationary multiverse.”
Professor Cox explained how an experiment in 2012 suggested that the universe could be in a false vacuum.
He added: “Physicists refer to each different possibility as a different void.
“This opens up the possibility that we may be instantly annihilated.
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But, Professor Cox confirmed that it would be a long way in the future before something like this happened.
He added: “The time scale for the decomposition of the vacuum is many times the age of our universe, so it will not happen tomorrow, but it is still puzzling to think that our universe is not the stable and eternal home in which we once we thought we were.
“You might think, quantum mechanics, could it save us? Could there be a slight fluctuation that allows something to happen and restart some or all of the universe?
“You never know, but you probably don’t.
“Whether it’s from decomposing vacuum, the Big Rip, or a sad, slow death from heat, now is the time to explore our universe, while it’s still visible to us.”
