Heat death
Heat death is an image introduced by Rudolf Clausius in 1867 for the "state [...] of the final thermal equilibrium of the universe", understood as a closed system .
According to the second law of thermodynamics , a closed system in thermal equilibrium contains the highest possible degree of entropy . In addition, the entropy in such a system can remain the same or increase, but never decrease. When the maximum entropy is reached, there is no drive for macroscopic events in the system. The system is approaching a static, "dead" state.
Assuming that our universe is a closed system, this means that all life in the universe will eventually die out. This is also known as the “heat death of the universe”. This projection into the very distant future is cited in philosophy in part as evidence of the inevitability of the end of the world . According to the current state of physics, however, it is not clear whether the universe is a closed system.
Ludwig Boltzmann and especially Henri Poincaré (1890) with his return theorem argued against a heat death of the universe.
literature
- Ingo Müller: Basics of Thermodynamics: With historical notes . Springer DE, 2001, ISBN 978-3-642-56474-1 , pp. 156-157.
- Martin Carrier : Wärmetod , in: Jürgen Mittelstraß (Hrsg.): Encyclopedia Philosophy and Philosophy of Science. 2nd Edition. Volume 8: Th - Z. Stuttgart, Metzler 2018, ISBN 978-3-476-02107-6 , p. 422 f. (with references).
Individual evidence
- ^ Martin Carrier : Wärmetod , in: Jürgen Mittelstraß (Hrsg.): Encyclopedia Philosophy and Philosophy of Science. 2nd Edition. Volume 8: Th - Z. Stuttgart, Metzler 2018, ISBN 978-3-476-02107-6 , p. 422