Is there such a thing as an absolute maximum temperature?

Question

There is an absolute 0: 0 Kelvin. Is there an absolute maximum temperature based on the following assumptions?
- speed of light is the absolute maximum speed at which matter could go
- "temperature: measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a sample of matter" ( http://www.answers.com/topic/temperature )

So maximum temperature would be that of the heaviest particle known to man going at the speed of light?

Answer 1

I asked myself that exact same question. But the answer is a little silly and perhaps not surprising. You see, what you must understand is that a massive (i.e. with mass) object cannot reach the speed of light, because it can be shown with a relatively simple proof that the amount of energy needed to accelerate it to the speed of light is infinite. Here lies the answer to your question: to accelerate something with mass (like matter) to the speed of light (the speed limit) you need infinite energy, or, in other words, an infinite quantity of heat. This obviously means, that you can go on increasing the temperature of an object forever and it won't ever reach the speed of light.
Therefore, there is not "upper-limit" to temperature.

Answer 2

As the universe expands the "temperature" decreases. As the universe contracts the "temperature" increases. Assuming the big bang theory is correct, I would have to say that the maximum temperture attainable "in this universe" would be the temperature at the time that all of the mass and energy of the universe are condensed into a singularity. Some theories include only a big bang while others leave room for a big crunch if the universe stops expanding and begins contracting due to a specific amount of matter in the universe. The latter would make the temperature of the universe oscillate from highest to lowest temperature as it continues to bang and crunch, while the former would continuously decrease in temperature as the universe expands to it's death.

Answer 3

The answer to your question depends on what it IS you are asking. You give a classical definition of "temperature" in your question while also invoking relativistic terms (speed of light). The problem of this "mixing" is highlighted by "mathematician"'s attempt to answer. IF you have a "sample", then THAT means containment, hence interaction. "Mathematician" states that there is "no known maximum, so temperature wouldn't either" is simply NOT true. The energy required to break molecular bonds is a known FINITE quantity. After this point, given continued containment, more energy would continue to change the state of the matter being tested. (molecules -> atoms -> plasma -> ... -> quark soup) Somewhere along the way we need a NEW definition for temperature and the answer to your question would depend on the definition chosen.

Answer 4

Hi. The "maximum temperature" would be reached if all particles in the universe except one where converted to energy and that energy was used to accelerate the one remaining particle. I do not know what the temperature would be but that particle would still not reach the speed of light, according to current theory. Strange, isn't it?

Answer 5

I would guess the maximum temperature would be the temperature of the universe at the instant of the Big Bang. At that point in time all energy of the universe was compressed to a singularity. Since then, all the energy has been dispersed through our ever-expanding universe. Find the temperature of that initial singularity and you will have your maximum energy.

That being said, I would guess that temperature of the singularity to be infinity :)

Answer 6

You have a great question here!

Best answer is an extension of what you've suggested...heavy particle NEAR the speed of light (massive particles can't reach c), so a max temp would be , like 0 K, a theoretical value. But there are still problems... like we don't know what will happen with high energy bleed-off into adjacent branes, or of any of this might (or might not ) be explained by one of the string theories, or M-Theory.

Maybe after CERN's new LHC (Large Hadron Collider) gets cranked up next summer we can answer this question.

Answer 7

None is known. The temperature of an object is relatd to the kinetic energy of the molecules in that object. This kenetic energy has no known maximum, so temperature wouldn't either. Remember that the kinetic energy goes unbounded as the speed approaches that of light.

Answer 8

The answers given are most probably from very intelligent people. Heck with that, if your talking about absolute, then "0.0" is the only one. The rest is relative to how far humans can count either way from 0.0, Simply put, that numbers are from negative infinity to zero(0.0) to positive infinity from zero.

Answer 9

infinite temperature. no maximum unless I guess whatever temperature the universe was before it ended up esploding