Is the universe infinite?

Question

Does science have some kind of answer to this question?

Answer 1

As far as we can tell, the visible universe ends at around 13.8 billion years.
This doesn't mean (by ANY means) that the universe is exactly that age... It just states that THAT is as far as we've been able to see.
The Universe has been hypothesized to be ~13.8 billion years old, but who actually knows the shape of it all?
It may well be that it shaped as a torus, with no beginning or end, just people like you and I asking questions...
It could be a more or less flat plane, extending forever outward 'til God knows when...
It's all theory, but an excellent point to ponder, nonetheless.
Thanks for that question!

Answer 2

We need to establish what you mean by the universe being infinite. The typical definition of the universe as being infinite is that if one were to travel in a perfectly straight line, that traveler would never reach an end to the universe.

However, it is possible for a universe to be both infinite and finite; by defining infinite specifically as “having no end” and finite as having a measurable volume. If a universe were curved in a dimension above its own, it would have these properties. The simplest example of such a finite and infinite universe would be the skin of an inflated balloon. If an inhabitant in the skin of the balloon traveled in a straight line, she would never reach an end. However, there would be a definite, measurable amount of area. Simply speaking, if an inhabitant painted the surface of his world, he could paint it all and be done.

And so, it is possible that our universe is like that balloon’s surface. One could travel in a perfectly straight line and end up back at her starting point. Some people have proposed that our universe could be like this and so, when we look far away to the vast stretches of our universe, we may be looking at our own past (because that which we see that is ten billion light-years away in distance is also ten billion years in the past).

In all likelihood, our universe is not finite in a way that we could reach its end. However, if we have learned anything at all from scientific history, it is that the truth can be magnitudes stranger than fiction. After all, it was only about one hundred years ago that we came to understand that time can flow at different rates due to very high speed or due to very high gravity. Who would have ever thought of that before?

There isn’t a simple answer to your question. All we know is that the Universe is pretty big and you could get lost rather easily out there. So take a sandwich!

Answer 3

This is a topic of some debate at the moment. Everything we have studied so far says that the universe is infinite. Although there is no GUARANTEED way to prove this. How would you PROVE that something goes on beyond what we can't even understand? If you bring other factors into play it gets confusing. For instance speed. If nothing can travel faster than the speed of light how can we put a limit other things like space and mass. There are a lot of theories out there. I suggest just picking one for yourself after some investigation. And there are some weird one too saying that if you were to travel a straight line through the universe for an undetermined distance you will eventually end up back at where you started. Good luck with this question it's a doosy.

Answer 4

There is, currently, no definitive way to prove or disprove any theory on the finite or infinite size of the universe. Since we can only measure the light coming towards us from the outermost reaches of the the universe, through telescopes and all the great experiments involving gravity, cosmic particles and whatnot, we can't see any further than the power of our strongest instruments. We have only been at this a short time, since Galileo, Pluto was unknown until 1930 and last year we were trying to determine what to classify it as.

So the greater universe at large is still too vast to be know to be finite or infinite. Anyone can give you an answer, none can give you an answer to any degree of certainty beyond that.

Answer 5

The correct answer is we don't know yet. It depends on a factor called the critical density. If the density of the universe is less or equal, it is infinite, if it is more, it is finite. So far observations show the density is less than the critical density, but because of the uncertainties associated with it, it could still go either way.

In my opinion however, an infinite universe makes no sense, especially since we know the universe had a beginning, the Big Bang, and is expanding.

Answer 6

it's unknown. the speed of light is finite and the big bang occurred a finite amount of time ago, so the "observable" universe is finite. but there is no reason to think that that is the whole universe. the light from the big bang represents a "horizon" a bit like the horizon on earth. we can't see over it right now, but there is no reason to suppose that it's actually a real physical boundary. in principle it could be the case that space is curved so that we can look out there and see our region of space as it was billions of years ago, but it seems that that is ruled out empirically - space is flat or very nearly flat. the universe is either many times the size of the observable universe, or infinite - it's too hard to tell, so far.

Answer 7

No. However, contrary to popular belief, it's very
possible that a trip through the universe would only
wind up back here.
It's my own personal opinion that what lies
outside the universe is an "under tow" that acts
as a balancing factor for "particle energy."

Answer 8

The universe is not infinite nor finite. It is expanding. From that big ball of energy to billions of lightyears that it is now and still expands. Im not exactly sure how but it is possible to calculate how big the universe is at a given time.

Answer 9

The universe is finite. We know this because it had a beginning. Furthermore, the universe will never be infinite, because it will die in an astrophysical event called "heat death" due to the finite amount of energy located within it.

Answer 10

This is aquestion that baffles scientists. Right now we do not have even a .00001% knowledge to even give an acceptable theory. Theoretically we assume that universe is infinite. Does it not show how small we are?