I spend a lot of time on this blog explaining a
physical spacetime model and the underlying metaphysics. In this series of
posts, each entry poses a physics question for the spacetime model, along with
the answer. A separate series of posts will answer metaphysics questions.
Physics Question #3. Will the universe expand
forever or eventually collapse? The
recently observed acceleration of the expansion of the universe seems to say
that the universe will expand forever. In my spacetime model, the structure of
spacetime is determined by a lattice of fermionic points pushed together by
gravity and held apart by the degeneracy pressure that comes from their
fermionic nature, that is, they obey the Pauli exclusion principle. In
astrophysics, it is well established that dying stars can have a similar
balance of forces. If large enough, such stars will collapse to form black
holes. If too small, they remain dead stars--neutron stars, for example. The
spacetime of the inflaton spacetime model is expanding, so it is like a
degenerate star that is getting bigger. Eventually, its gravity should overcome
its degeneracy pressure, and the universe should collapse to a black hole. The
final state is different from the initial state, so there would probably not be
a bounce leading to a new big bang.
