The universe, currently approximately 13.8 billion years old and still expanding, may face a future collapse, according to a new model developed by Henry Tye. The expansion’s trajectory depends on a parameter known as the cosmological constant, which dictates whether expansion continues indefinitely or reverses. A positive constant indicates perpetual expansion, while a negative constant suggests a future contraction leading to a complete collapse.
Tye’s model, based on recent observations of dark energy, posits that the universe will continue to expand for roughly 11 billion years before initiating an irreversible contraction, culminating in a full collapse approximately 20 billion years from now. “This ‘Big Crunch’ represents the ultimate end of space and time,” Tye stated.
The theory isn’t entirely new, but Tye’s calculations leverage data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) in Chile and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) in Arizona. These observations suggest that dark energy, which comprises 68% of the universe, may not be constant. Tye and his team propose a new model incorporating a hypothetical, extremely low-mass particle to explain these observations. The model suggests dark energy behaved like a constant in the universe’s early stages but is now beginning to change, potentially driving the cosmological constant negative.
Tye’s work, published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, has already sparked debate within the cosmology community. The observations provide the most comprehensive evidence to date suggesting the universe may have a finite lifespan, rather than an infinite one. Future projects, including the Euclid space telescope, SPHEREx mission, and Vera Rubin Observatory, are expected to provide further data to refine these models.
While the data remains preliminary, the possibility of a mathematically calculable end to the universe is now a significant consideration. If dark energy is not constant, the scenario of perpetual expansion weakens, making the “Big Crunch” a compelling candidate for re-evaluation. “We now know the universe has a beginning. We are now at the stage of understanding if it has an end,” Tye concluded.
