/sci/ - Science & Math

>>2638272
The symbol OMEGA is a particularly apt choice, because the curvature of the universe is related to its fate. Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet, symbolizes the end of everything, just as alpha symbolizes the beginning. Omega is a measure of the stuff in the universe, the matter and energy that make up the cosmos, and omega determines the evictor in an eternal struggle: the struggle between expansion and contraction, the battle between an ever growing universe and one that collapses under its own weight. For just as OMEGA determines the curvature of the universe, it is also related to how the universe dies. If it is below the critical density, then there is not enough stuff to counteract the expansion of the universe, and the cosmos expands forever and dies an icy death. If it’s greater than one, then there is more than enough stuff to overcome the force of the initial explosion, and the universe's expansion stops, reverses itself, and leads to a fiery big crunch. The case of omega = 1 is special. The inverse dies a COLD death, as the expansion never quite ceases.

Curvature, the amount of stuff in the universe, and the ultimate fate of the cosmos are all interrelated. Determine one of them and you can divine the other two. And the cosmic background radiation gave cosmologists a way to measure the curvature of the universe directly.