Up
to the Global SphereBased on table 10.2 in The Anthropic Cosmological Principle by John D. Barrow and Frank J. Tipler.
(Some of these events preclude others; e.g. if protons decay, there will be no Hawking decay of matter later)
| 5*10^9 years | Sun leaves main sequence |
|---|---|
| 10^11 | Large clusters evaporate galaxies |
| 10^12 | Stars cease to form; all massive stars have become either neutron stars or black holes |
| 10^14 | Longest lived stars use all their fuel and become white dwarfs |
| 10^17 | White dwarfs cool to black dwarfs at 5 K. Proton decay (if any) will keep dwarfs at this temperature for 10^30 years. |
| 10^19 | Dead stars evaporate from galaxies (90-99% of all stars will evaporate; 1-10% will collect in galactic centers to form gigantic black holes) |
| 10^19 | Neutron stars cool to 100 degrees K |
| 10^20 | Orbits of planets decay via gravitational radiation |
| 10^23 | Dead stars evaporate from galactic clusters (Black dwarfs are at 5 degrees K and neutron stars at 100 degrees K due to proteon decay; background radiation has cooled to 10^-13 degrees K) |
| At this stage matter consists of about 90% dead stars, 9% black holes and 1% atomic hydrogen and helium. | |
| 10^31 | Protons decay (according to SU(5) GUT) |
| 10^32 | Dead stars evaporate via proton decay (GUT) |
| 10^34 | All carbon-based lifeforms become extinct (due to lack of atoms) |
| At this stage most matter in the universe is in the form of e+, e-, ~v, v, gamma. | |
| 10^65 | Ordinary matter liquifies due to quantum tunneling |
| 10^66 | Solar mass black holes evaporate via Hawking process |
| 10^73 | In flat and closed universes, most e+ and e- form positronium (in open universe most e+ and e- remain free) |
| 10^99 | Galactic mass black holes (10^11 M(sol)) evaporate via Hawking process |
| 10^117 | In flat and closed universes, positronium decays via cascade releasing 10^22 photons |
| 10^117 | Supercluster mass black holes (10^17 M(sol)) evaporate via Hawking process |
| 10^122 | Protons decay via Hawking process |
| 10^1500 | If ordinary matter survives decay via GUTs or Hawking process, it decays into iron |
| 10^10^26 | All iron collapses into black holes |
After Table 10.1. The closed universe is assumed to begin to contract less than 10^11 years after the initial singularity.
| Event | Universal Scale Factor R(t)/R(now) | Temperature (K) |
|---|---|---|
| Galaxies merge | 10^-2 | 300 |
| Sky as bright as the Sun's surface | 10^-3 | 3000 |
| Sky as hot as stellar cores; stars explode | 10^-6 | 3*10^6 |
| Nuclei desintegrate into neutrons and protons | 10^-9 | 3*10^9 |
| Protons and neutrons become free quarks | 10^-12 | 3*10^12 |