Is energy and mass infinite in amounts?

Maybe read up on some basic physics? For starters, look up the relationship between mass and energy.

Space​

How big is the universe? The shape of space-time could tell us​

We may never know what lies beyond the boundaries of the observable universe, but the fabric of the cosmos can tell us whether the universe is infinite or not
By Leah Crane
25 June 2024



NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

This story is part of our Cosmic Perspective series, in which we confront the staggering vastness of the cosmos and our place in it. Read the rest of the series here.

In a sense, we are at the centre of the universe – but only because we can see the same distance in every direction, giving us the perfectly spherical observable universe. The speed limit of light combined with the inexorable expansion of the cosmos means that we can see about 46 billion light years in every direction. What lies beyond this horizon? That is a mystery we may never solve.
But there are clues. Two competing effects govern the overall size of the universe: gravity and dark energy. All matter has mass, which causes gravitational forces that pull everything towards everything else. To their surprise, however, cosmologists in the early 20th century found that distant galaxies seem to be hurtling away from us. The mysterious force causing this strange expansion of space was dubbed dark energy, and its nature remains elusive to this day.

“Up until the discovery of dark energy and the acceleration of expansion, the universe was simpler,” says cosmologist Wendy Freedman at the University of Chicago. Without dark energy, the universe would be much smaller and its size easier to predict.

Even with dark energy, the universe may only be slightly larger than what is observable. In March, Jean-Luc Lehners, then at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Germany, and Jerome Quintin at the University of Waterloo in Canada published a model that suggested the period of rapid expansion right after the big bang, called inflation, could have been even shorter than we thought. This would leave the universe smaller than many other models predict. “In principle, the universe could be just the size we observe, but that would be a hell of a coincidence,” says Quintin. “It’s more likely that it’s at least a couple times that size. In theory, anything between an infinite universe and a relatively small one is possible.”

Is the universe infinite?​

That brings up a truly mind-boggling question: is the universe finite or does it go on forever? In an attempt to answer this, cosmologists look at the shape of space-time. To wrap your mind around this idea, it is simpler to think of space as being two dimensional. There are three possibilities: the universe could be flat like a sheet of paper or more like a sheet of rubber, bent into either a saddle shape or a balloon. If space-time is shaped like a balloon, it must be finite, but the other two shapes can be either finite or infinite.

So far, most experiments show that the curvature of space-time is extremely close to zero. This hints that the universe is flat. But proof may not come for decades because it relies on measurements of positions and movements of distant galaxies taken with an extreme level of precision that isn’t yet possible. It would then take a different sort of measurement, looking at the specifics of how different areas in space-time are connected, to determine whether the cosmos is finite or not – far from an easy task. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to tell whether we live in a finite or an infinite universe,” says Quintin.

Nailing down the size, shape and history of the universe is crucial for determining its fate. In a balloon-like universe, cosmic expansion could eventually slow and reverse, ending in a “big crunch” – and potentially another big bang. A saddle-shaped cosmos would keep expanding forever, resulting in either a “big rip” – where the expansion rends space-time itself – or the heat death of the universe. The latter is also the most likely fate of a flat universe, wherein everything gets further apart and more diluted, until all that is left is a hint of weak radiation that lingers, unchanging, for eternity

Occusis said:

I was thinking, let`s say it all started with the big bang, a sun that exploded, what decided the amount of energy in it? I have a little problem with this issue, because something must have decided how much energy and matter there was in the beginning, but how can anything be finite in amount also? Something must have decided how much it was then?

Was there a sun in the beginning, with x-amount of energy and mass? Or did it come from a source of infinite amounts?

I`m not so much talking about the amount of mass, because if you set mass on fire, it`s energy, so perhaps mass came from energy itself. Like, when energy cooled down after the big bang, and frose a little into mass?

Everyone says the universe will end also, because energy won`t burn forever, but I mean, there can`t be an finite amount of it, something must have decided how much it was then in the beginning. Is energy infinite instead then perhaps, like it`s never gonna run out for new suns to form? Where is this source of infinite energy then, like in another dimention next to our own space?

I struggle with the idea of energy just being finite, something must have decided how much it is then. I kinda get that space can be finite in size, like a bubble, expanding, and that there`s walls with nothing behind it. But, most people would agree perhaps, that the universe is infinite in all directions. Is everything infinite?

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No scientist can say this because we cannot view the entirety of the evidence. But a Christian can say by faith that God is infinite and that his creation is finite in scope, mass, energy, and time.