The universe has been around for 13.6 billion years. Scientists have been peering at it for centuries. There are galaxies, exoplanets, and stars we are only now learning about. There is so much more that remains unexplored, including alien life. But, it's all got to end someday. The universe itself will cease to exist.

Advertisment

How soon can that happen? Scientists say that despite black holes eating up matter and stars continuously dying and being born, the universe is pretty stable today, also known as a vacuum state. However, that can change anytime.

They point to the quantum fields, one of which might be on the edge and enter a new state, triggering instability, and ultimately the end of the universe.

Also Read: Monstrous cloud detected floating near Earth at edge of huge 'cavity'

Advertisment

Instability in Physics is also known as false vacuum decay. When this happens, a typhoon-like situation will occur, which will sweep through the universe and finish everything.

Laws of Physics, which are made by observing the current state of the universe, will also change. Although once we no longer exist, there will be no one to set the new laws.

Also Read: Polynomials to the fifth degree? No problem! Mathematician presents simple solution

Advertisment

The electromagnetic field is one such quantum field. Curved magnetic field lines are responsible for pulling iron pieces. These lines are not visible to us, but they exist throughout the universe.

Is Higgs field unstable?

The Higgs field gives all particles mass and has some special properties. Scientists think that while Higgs looks stable, it might be in a false or temporary vacuum state and enter an even lower state. All quantum fields are bound to reach their lowest energy states. The same is true for Higgs. If it is not at its lowest point right now, that is likely to happen someday.

Also Read: Scientists warn of triple threat, say massive earthquake can drown parts of US

This would transform the Higgs field and change the physics and chemistry of the universe, throwing everything into a state of chaos.

David Tong, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge, says, when this happens, "most atoms beyond hydrogen would no longer exist and disintegrate." 

He told Popular Mechanics, "Nuclear reactions no longer work, so stars fail to shine. Chemistry is out the window, so life is not possible. The universe would no longer be the wonderful, vibrant place it is today."

Also Read: 56-year-old theory is proven right as 'Black Hole bomb' explodes in a lab

Billion, billion, billion...years

Something called a cosmological bubble would be behind this catastrophe. This bubble occurs when the true vacuum expands from one pocket of the universe through the entire universe. Jaka Vodeb, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany, and his team published a study which states that "cosmological bubbles spread through complex interactions."

The theory presents one way the universe can end.

Thankfully, Tong says this occurrence takes "around a billion, billion, billion, billion, billion, billion times longer than the current age of the universe." So whenever this happens, humans would likely be long gone.