All matter being liquid in 10^65 years if proton decay doesn't occur.

[Dremmer]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_far_future

10^65 years in the future.

Assuming that protons do not decay, estimated time for rigid objects like rocks to rearrange their atoms and molecules via quantum tunnelling. On this timescale all matter is liquid.[49]€

Does that mean in 10^65 years in the future, if proton decay doesn't occur, only liquid will exist. Solid, gas and plasma matter will no longer exist?

 

[James Leighe]

Just judging from what you said in your post, they are saying that all objects will tend to 'melt' over extremely long periods of time because of quantum tunneling.

Just like some (all?) glass will seem to melt over hundreds of years if you watched a rock for a bajillion years it would also seem to melt (but for surely different reasons).

An interesting idea.

 

[Dr_Morbius]

No. That's not what it means. It means that over a time period of 10^65 years, due to quantum tunneling, atoms will rearrange themselves, the same way liquids do but much much slower, making it seem as if matter is a liquid. It doesn't mean that all matter will suddenly turn to liquid. Read it carefully.

 

[SHISHKABOB]

it's saying that on this timescale, all matter is *like* liquid. When they say it is liquid, they don't mean the phase, they mean the adjective "liquid"

 

[Dickfore]

How can a gas melt?!

 

[Dremmer]

Oh, so that matter will still be in the solid phase but it will seem like liquid.

 

[James Leighe]

Correct, the atoms will slowly rearrange in the solid making it look like it's kinda liquid like.

But remember that the timescale is incredibly long too.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

How can a gas melt?!

Over this time scale I doubt there is any gas. There would be no stars and the average temperature of the universe would be incredibly low.

 

[Dremmer]

Correct, the atoms will slowly rearrange in the solid making it look like it's kinda liquid like.

But remember that the timescale is incredibly long too.

Oh, so it would still have properties of solid like definite shape, but it will look like liquid. I wonder if (intelligent) life would be able to survive this change if it still exists in this incredibly long period of time.

 

[SHISHKABOB]

heh, well, imagine telling about a thousand people to stand in a room where there's a bout a square meter for each person, and then just leave them in there for a while without telling them to do anything. I imagine they'd act a bit liquid.

I think the point is really that this is a change that is only noticeable over these ridiculously long time frames. People don't live long enough to notice it because a person doesn't even live for 10^2 years.

It's not that the stuff changes into some liquid stuff, it's that if you watched all the atoms in some solid for 10^65 years, and then sped it up really fast, it would look like a liquid because the atoms would be moving around like a liquid.

Solids will still be solids if you just took a short glance at them, but over these enormous lengths of time, they'd act like liquids.

For example imagine some water. But only imagine the water for an instant, like a picture of water. The water looks solid, doesn't it? It's the same idea.