Solitaire
Neoclinus blanchardi
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2001
- Messages
- 3,065
"Most photons in the universe belong to the cosmic background radiation that survives from the big bang. Their total number remains almost constant. The entropy per unit (call it s) equals 4/3T times the thermal energy aT4 per unit volume, where T is temperature and a the radiation energy density constant, and s is therefore equal to 4aT3/3. Hence s/T3 is constant, and because T varies aV1/3, the total entropy S = sV in volume V stays constant during the expansion. The thermal radiation energy in V, equal to aT4V, however, decreases at the same rate as T and is proportional to 1/V1/3. The energy in the cosmic background radiation, once very large, is now quite small. Where has this energy gone? Can you think of an answer that conserves total energy? (The author has tried and failed.) Do you think the second law of thermodynamics is a better conservation principle in cosmology than the familiar conservation of energy principle?" - Edward Robert Harrison
I wonder, does the he eventually find the answer to his question or do we have to wait for the sequel to come out.
I wonder, does the he eventually find the answer to his question or do we have to wait for the sequel to come out.
