Will Dark Energy Cause the End of the Universe?

There have been several reports by scientists recently that suggest our universe may not end in a bang like it has been thought by many. Rather, the end may come slowly as all matter, including dark matter, is pushed farther apart by a mysterious force called dark energy. Astronomy magazine writer Liz Kruesi, wrote extensively in this subject on a February '09 article where she states that even though scientists are not sure what dark energy actually is, they do have some ideas.

They have come up with three possible dark energy candidates. Each produces a different value equation (a result of the ratio between pressure and energy density), which in turn dictates how the universe will end according to which is the actual value of dark energy. One value leads to quintessence dark energy, a second to vacuum energy and a third to phantom energy. While all three are possibilities, scientists are leaning more toward the third, phantom energy.

Phantom energy would give way to what they have named The Big Rip. This would be an ending of the universe where as dark energy speeds up, it would finally reach a point where every component of the universe would be torn apart to infinity.

In a Time magazine article Michael D. Lemonick says that not only is the universe expanding at an alarming rate, but that it is also speeding up at an even faster pace. Eventually, this will shatter gravity and tear apart every last atom in existence.

This force, which has lately been dubbed "dark energy," isn't just keeping the expansion from slowing down, it's making the universe fly apart faster and faster all the time, like a rocket ship with the throttle wide open. - Michael D. Lemonick, Time Magazine.

Whichever way the end of all will happen, there is no sense in worrying about it, since it won't be here any time soon. The Big Rip would not be here for at least 55 billion years and some cosmologists are pushing it forward by as much as 90 billion years from now, if at all.

Sources:
Liz Kruesi, Astronomy Magazine
Michael D. Lemonick, How the Universe Will End, Time Magazine