Conservation of Energy for the Universe

[daniellionyang]

The conservation of the energy of the universe requires that the universe is an isolated system. Is there any way that, in fact, the universe isn't a isolated system and we would be losing or gaining energy in the universe? Also, does this possibly mean that the universe won't necessarily end in by heat death professed by the law of thermodynamics?

 

[phinds]

The conservation of the energy of the universe requires that the universe is an isolated system. Is there any way that, in fact, the universe isn't a isolated system and we would be losing or gaining energy in the universe? Also, does this possibly mean that the universe won't necessarily end in by heat death professed by the law of thermodynamics?

Sean Carroll on "Energy is not conserved on cosmological scales":
http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2010/02/22/energy-is-not-conserved/