A dying universe: the long-term fate and evolutionof astrophysical objects

Adams, Fred C.; Laughlin, Gregory

doi:10.1103/revmodphys.69.337

Cited by 261 publications

(266 citation statements)

References 129 publications

(149 reference statements)

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“…A full understanding of this issue thus requires a solution to the cosmological constant problem, which remains an open question [15]. This effect greatly changes the long term evolution of black holes, however, and could have important implications for the long term fate of our universe [16]. This present discussion does not address the back reaction, i.e., the effects of black hole accretion on the background cosmological constant.…”

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confidence: 99%

Possible effects of a cosmological constant on black hole evolution

1999

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We explore possible effects of vacuum energy on the evolution of black holes. If the universe contains a cosmological constant, and if black holes can absorb energy from the vacuum, then black hole evaporation could be greatly suppressed. For the magnitude of the cosmological constant suggested by current observations, black holes larger than ∼ 4 × 10 24 g would accrete energy rather than evaporate. In this scenario, all stellar and supermassive black holes would grow with time until they reach a maximum mass scale of ∼ 6 × 10 55 g, comparable to the mass contained within the present day cosmological horizon. The past several years have presented us with two important and intriguing developments concerning the nature of our universe:[A] Observations of distant supernovae [1] strongly suggest that the Hubble expansion departs from that expected for a purely matter dominated cosmology. The leading explanation for this departure is a cosmological constant contribution to the energy density of roughly half the critical density, i.e., ρ V ≈ ρ cr /2 ≈ 10 −29 g/cm 3 h 2 ≈ (0.003 eV) 4 h 2 , where h is the present day Hubble constant in units of 100 km s −1 Mpc −1 so that 0.4 < h < 1. The corresponding energy scale of the vacuum is thus T vac = 0.003 eV h 1/2 .[B] The observational evidence for black holes has passed a threshold of firmness so that black holes can now be considered as "discovered". This observational evidence can be found in three different settings: the three million solar mass black hole in the center of our galaxy [2], supermassive black holes in the centers of external galaxies [3], and stellar mass black holes within our galaxy [4]. Thus far, however, no evidence has been found for smaller black holes [5], which presumably have a primordial origin.Given the existence of both black holes and a cosmological constant, an interesting physical process can potentially occur: The black holes can accrete energy from the vacuum and grow larger with time [6]. The usual conceptual description of a cosmological constant is that seemingly empty space is not really empty, but rather is continually seething with virtual particles, which must contribute a net positive energy density. Within this picture, the virtual particles can be accreted by black holes. Given the (almost) one-way nature of a black hole's event horizon, more energy will enter the black hole than will be released and the black hole can gain energy and thereby grow larger. In this letter, using the explicit assumption that this accretion process is viable, we explore the possible effects of a non-vanishing 2 cosmological constant on the future evolution of black holes.Building on earlier work [7,8], Mallett [6] performed the relativistic calculation of an evaporating black hole embedded within a background spacetime endowed with a cosmological constant. The original motivation was to determine the effects of the vacuum energy on the evaporation of black holes during the inflationary epoch, but the results apply to the present case as wel...

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confidence: 99%

Possible effects of a cosmological constant on black hole evolution

1999

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“…Our methods are in many ways similar to the ones used in our work on the evolution of closed-world models without a cosmological constant & Gud- (Bjornsson mundsson 1995), in which an extensive list of references to earlier work on cosmic evolution can be found (see also Adams & Laughlin 1997 for a di †erent perspective and further references). We emphasize that our approach is different from, but complementary to, most other recent investigations, which concentrate on applying new and old cosmological tests, such as the m-z relation, to the present light cone.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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2002

ApJ

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We consider ever-expanding big bang models with a cosmological constant, ", and investigate in detail the evolution of the observable part of the universe. We also discuss quintessence models from the same point of view. A new concept, the "-sphere (or Q-sphere, in the case of quintessence) is introduced. This is the surface in our visible universe that bounds the region where dark energy dominates the expansion, and within which the universe is accelerating. We follow the evolution of this surface as the universe expands, and we also investigate the evolution of the particle and event horizons as well as the Hubble surface. We calculate the extent of the observable universe and the portion of it that can be seen at di †erent epochs. Furthermore, we trace the changes in redshift, apparent magnitude and apparent size of distant sources through cosmic history. Our approach is di †erent from, but complementary to, most other contemporary investigations, which concentrate on the past light cone at the present epoch. When presenting numerical results we use the FRW world model with and as our stan-) m0 \ 0.30 ) "0 \ 0.70 dard cosmological model. In this model the "-sphere is at a redshift of 0.67, and within a few Hubble times the event horizon will be stationary at a Ðxed proper distance of 5.1 Gpc (assuming All h 0 \ 0.7). cosmological sources with present redshift larger than 1.7 have by now crossed the event horizon and are therefore completely out of causal contact.

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“…It is responsible for both the low initial entropy of the universe, and it is the dominant contributor today in the form of the entropy of supermassive black holes. Previous authors have looked at the future of life (Dyson, 1979 ;Barrow and Tipler, 1986 ) and the future of astrophysical objects (Adams and Laughlin, 1997 ) . But this fundamental concept is only poorly understood.…”

Section: Gravitational Entropymentioning

confidence: 99%