New Study Predicts Cosmic ‘Big Crunch’ Could End Everything in 20 Billion Years

Recent research suggests that our universe could eventually reverse its expansion and collapse in a "Big Crunch." In a new study, astrophysicists (including Cornell's Henry Tye) analyzed data from major dark energy surveys and proposed that dark energy may weaken over time. They estimate that expansion will stop in about 11 billion years, with the universe then contracting to a final collapse 20 billion years from now.

Big Crunch Predicted by New Model

According to the news sources, a group of researchers, led by Cornell physicist Henry Tye, with co-authors Hoang Luu and Yu-Cheng Qiu, has proposed a model that incorporates data from the Dark Energy Survey and the DESI telescope. Their model involves the existence of a very light new particle (an axion) and a “negative” cosmological constant.

By matching their model to observations, they have found that the expansion of the universe will slow down, reach a maximum in about 11 billion years, and then reverse. Consequently, the universe would eventually collapse in a "Big Crunch" about 33.3 billion years after the Big Bang, or approximately 20 billion years from now.

Context and Future Tests

Standard cosmology considers dark energy to be a constant. The new model, on the other hand, allows dark energy to vary over time. In fact, new data from DES (Dark Energy Survey) and DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) indicate that dark energy could be more complex than a simple cosmological constant. However, other scientists advise caution regarding these findings.

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,” and the authors of the study themselves admit to large uncertainties.

Future surveys, such as the ESA Euclid mission, NASA's SPHEREx, or the Vera Rubin Observatory, will provide more accurate data on dark energy to test these predictions.