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Ask Ethan #92: Is there a limit to temperature? (Synopsis) [Starts With A Bang]
“Nothing is lost… Everything is transformed.” –Michael Ende
If you take all the kinetic motion out of a system, and have all the particles that make it up perfectly at rest, somehow even overcoming intrinsic quantum effects, you’d reach absolute zero, the theoretically lowest temperature of all. But what about the other direction? Is there a limit to how hot something can theoretically get?
Image credit: A.Greg; Wikimedia Commons user Greg L.
You might think not, that while things like molecules, atoms, protons and even matter will break down at high enough temperatures, you can always push your system hotter and hotter. But it turns out that the Universe limits what’s actually possible, as your physical system will self-destruct beyond a certain point.
Image credit: Cosmic Inflation by Don Dixon.
What is that point, and how will it get there? Find out on this week’s Ask Ethan!
Source: http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2015/06/12/ask-ethan-92-is-there-a-limit-to-temperature-synopsis/
