Regarding Chris' comments:
>Also, if the universe is infinite, then there is no part of it that is a
>closed system, so it would be unlikely that the entire universe would
>settle into a low-energy state at the same time.
>
>The slightest difference in mass between two near-together volumes of space
>would cause a *further* increase in mass in the area with more mass and a
>decrease in surrounding areas, thus de-stabilizing an ever-larger volume of
>matter and possibly leading to local "Big Bangs."
I'm got exactly sure of what you are saying here, but if I read you
correctly there is a problem with what you say. It is true that
gravitational effects interacting with matter density fluctuations leads
to an instability. That is why the universe is quite inhomogeneous in
its matter density with its hierachically arranged distribution of matter
and wide ranging regions of wildly different termperatures even though it
seems to have been quite uniform and smoothly distributed all at a quite
uniform temperature, pressure, etc. in the very early universe. The high
density regions become more dense and the low density regions become less
dense. I think the end of this process is not the formation of "local
'Big Bangs'" but the formation of black holes and a background of very
low temperature radiation.
>The 2LOT only applies in situations where "normal" physics applies and
>where there are not counteracting forces (such as gravity).
The 2nd law *does* apply in the presence of gravitation (but the
application is tricky). It's just that when gravitational effects are
present that the system might not be able to smoothly equilibrate due to
the effects of the above instability. It's more fair to say that large
scale gravitational effects are incompatible with a conventional
thermodynamic stability and a conventional approach to equilibrium
(governed by LeChatelier's Principle) than it is to say that the 2nd law
doesn't apply in such cases. It's true that LeChatelier's Principle
doesn't apply though (as it is usually formulated). And the upshot of
this is that any *final overall* "heat death" is very forestalled and
still a *very* long way off (even though in one important sense the
universe has been mostly already *in* its heat death from nearly the
very beginning).
> ...
>Besides, if 2LOT were in fact absolute and absolutely universal, even God
>would not be able to get around it.
Or, He would have just not choosen to get around it.
David Bowman
David_Bowman@georgetowncollege.edu
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