What will happen if the universe stops expanding?
1 Answer
There are two possibilities a steady state universe or
an alternating universe.
Explanation:
If the universe stopped expanding but didn't start contracting this would result in a steady state universe. Fred Holyt was an advocate of the steady state universe. This view is consistent with the concept of material realism that matter and energy are all that exists.
If the universe stopped expanding and then started contracting it would result in a Big Crush. Gravity would pull the universe back into a super dense ball of matter. The super dense ball of matter would then explode in another Big Bang. This concept of a alternating universe is also consistent with the concept of material realism that matter and energy are eternal and self existent.
The empirical evidence however is that the universe will not stop expanding. The Supernova Cosmological Project, The High Z Supernova Search Team and the Supernova Legacy Survey all found that the rate of expansion of the universe was increasing not slowing down or stopping. These studies done in 1997 and 1998 won Noble prizes in science for the scientists involved.
The implications of the empirical evidence from the supernova discoveries is still being studied. However it seems that the concepts of material realisms and the closed universe of only eternal self existent matter are not not scientifically supported.
