17: Dark Energy and the Fate of the Universe
- Page ID
- 30494
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Chapter 17 focuses on dark energy and its role in determining the ultimate fate of the Universe. The relatively modern discovery of the accelerated expansion of the Universe is described and different possibilities for the nature of dark energy are discussed. Measurements of dark energy and dark matter and of normal matter and energy are combined within the cosmic concordance model, and the implications of this model are discussed. The chapter concludes with a summary of our current knowledge of the state of the Universe.
Thumbnail: An animation of the expected behavior of a Big Crunch. (Public Domain; Rogilbert~commonswiki via Wikipedia)