Quote:
Originally Posted by sjastro
I'm disappointed. Sounded like a great way for the Universe to end. 
I still prefer the Vacuum Metastability Event to annihilate the Universe.
Regards
Steven |
Here's something to consider...if the universe is undergoing accelerated expansion, that metastable tunneling event would have practically no influence on the universe as a whole. Remember, the horizon for the region within the bubble of the event is spreading at near the speed of light. Even if the universal expansion remained flat and didn't slowdown, it would take billions of years for it to cover the distance of the observable universe. If the universe is accelerating, it would never swallow the universe as a whole simply because the universal expansion would outpace the expansion of the bubble. If it got to the "big rip" stage, that bubble would be completely insignificant. It'd be like comparing the Planck Length to the size of the total universe.