Fate
A white dwarf is stable once formed and will continue to cool almost indefinitely; eventually, it will become a black white dwarf, also called a black dwarf. Assuming that the Universe continues to expand, it is thought that in 1019 to 1020 years, the galaxies will evaporate as their stars escape into intergalactic space., §IIIA. White dwarfs should generally survive this, although an occasional collision between white dwarfs may produce a new fusing star or a super-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf which will explode in a Type Ia supernova., §IIIC, IV. The subsequent lifetime of white dwarfs is thought to be on the order of the lifetime of the proton, known to be at least 1032 years. Some simple grand unified theories predict a proton lifetime of no more than 1049 years. If these theories are not valid, the proton may decay by more complicated nuclear processes, or by quantum gravitational processes involving a virtual black hole; in these cases, the lifetime is estimated to be no more than 10200 years. If protons do decay, the mass of a white dwarf will decrease very slowly with time as its nuclei decay, until it loses enough mass to become a nondegenerate lump of matter, and finally disappears completely., §IV.
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Famous quotes containing the word fate:
“I have, as when the sun doth light a storm,
Buried this sigh in wrinkle of a smile;
But sorrow that is couched in seeming gladness
Is like that mirth fate turns to sudden sadness.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The Battle of Waterloo is a work of art with tension and drama with its unceasing change from hope to fear and back again, change which suddenly dissolves into a moment of extreme catastrophe, a model tragedy because the fate of Europe was determined within this individual fate.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“Is it impossible not to wonder why a movement which professes concern for the fate of all women has dealt so unkindly, contemptuously, so destructively, with so significant a portion of its sisterhood. Can it be that those who would reorder society perceive as the greater threat not the chauvinism of men or the pernicious attitudes of our culture, but rather the impulse to mother within women themselves?”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)