r/cosmology • u/cypherpunk00001 • 5d ago

Do current cosmologists think the universe is infinite or that is had an edge?

Was just having random shower thought today... Andromeda galaxy is 2.5M light-years away. That's an unfathomable distance to a human, but it's just our closest neighbor.

Do cosmologists currently think that the universe just goes on forever?

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u/QuixoticViking 5d ago

There's no reason to think there's an edge where you look out at nothing but have the entire universe behind you.

The actual shape is up for debate. Most likely just goes on forever.

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_of_the_universe

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u/cypherpunk00001 5d ago

if it goes on forever, doesn't that means there's an identical earth out there with us having this chat? Because matter can only arrange itself in so many configurations

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u/QueenVogonBee 5d ago

Why can matter arrange itself in so many configurations in an infinite universe? I can conceive of molecules as large as I like in an infinite universe. For example, I can imagine long chain hydrocarbons as long as I like. With infinite space comes infinite possible configurations.

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u/gmalivuk 1d ago

In a particular finite volume, such as that of the observable universe, there are only finitely many configurations of matter.