A tribute to our Professor J. N.

Islam
Professor A. M. Harunar Rashid Fellow, Bangladesh Academy of Sciences

Professor J. N. Islam (birth: February 24, 1934; death: ar!h 1", 2#13$ is o%e of the most famous s!ie%tists of &a%'ladesh (ho (as i%ter%atio%ally (ell)*%o(% as a mathemati!al +hysi!ist, astro+hysi!ist, !osmolo'ist a%d o!!asio%al e!o%omist. ,e be!ame a le'e%d duri%' his rather short life)time, a%d he (as -ery famous due to his -ery (ell (ritte% boo* . /he 0ltimate Fate of the 0%i-erse1 (1923$ (hi!h 3ui!*ly be!ame +o+ular i% his o(% !ou%try as (ell as i% ma%y other !ou%tries of the (orld, +arti!ularly i% that se!tio% of the s!ie%tifi!ally orie%ted readers (ho e%4oy readi%' (hat theoreti!al +hysi!ists ha-e to say about the e-e%tual fate of the 0%i-erse. No()a) days, (e the stude%t of s!ie%!e belie-e i% the theory of the &i' &a%' (hi!h !reated the +rese%t 0%i-erse of stars a%d 'ala5ies a%d (e *%o( that this &i' &a%' is the follo()u+ of the 6lbert 7i%stei%8s i%!om+arable 9e%eral /heory of :elati-ity a%d its e5te%sio%, ;osmolo'y, (hi!h has 'i-e% us the +rese%t theory of the !reatio% of the 0%i-erse. &ut of !ourse (e !a%%ot for'et that the s!ie%tist (ho s+o*e first about the &i' &a%' (as the famous 6meri!a% ;osmolo'ist, 7d(i% ,ubble, (ho (as the first +erso% to ide%tify from the results of his !osmolo'i!al i%-esti'atio%s that the 0%i-erse of ours is fore-er e5+a%di%' from the -ery first mome%t of its !reatio%. 7d(i% ,ubble obtai%ed his result i% 1929 i% his study of the s+e!tral li%es of the li'ht emitted from the stars a%d the 'ala5ies, althou'h as early as 191<, the ;osmolo'ist =e%to >li+her %oted this e-ide%!e of e5+a%sio% of the 0%i-erse. 7d(i% ,ubble !learly stated that the result of his s+e!tral i%-esti'atio%s lea-e %o doubt that the far a(ay 'ala5ies are !o%ti%uously re!edi%' from us till the time so that %o body !a% say, hqvbv hqv bv wdi `uvovI, eviK `uvovI `q-Avmb| Pj mgximg wdwiQ Kb Kzmyg Kzmyg Kvbb Kvbb| Zvgvq wiZ Pvw! wiZ "vwib, Zzwg "w#Z hb $%"b &mv!, Zvgvi eviK `w' (wiq Avuw'| wiq ivw' hZb|
)gvqvi 'jv, iex*`+bv# ,vKzi-

A brief introduction The Ultimate Fate of the Universe ! ;uriously e%ou'h J. N. Islam (rote the first -ersio% of The Ultimate Fate of the Universe almost at the same time as (he% >te-e% ?e%ber' (rote his hi'hly +ubli!i@ed The First Three Minutes (hi!h be!ame for us a% i%dis+e%sable boo* (he% (e (ere stude%ts. /hese boo*s brillia%tly des!ribe a ra%'e of a++are%t mira!le, i.e. e-e%ts (hi!h ultimately !ombi%e to ma*e it +ossible for our 0%i-erse to e-ol-e from its mome%t of birth to its +rese%t familiar stru!ture i%-ol-i%' atoms, mole!ules, stars, 'ala5ies a%d !ombi%atio% of 'ala5ies o% the o%e ha%d a%d o% the other, atoms, mole!ules, !arbo% bo%ds a%d ultimately life itself. /his is a ta%tali@i%'ly fas!i%ati%' story (hi!h

has %o +arallel i% a%ythi%' that ma% has !reated a%d it !a%%ot but i%still i% dee+ se%se of a(e a%d res+e!t for the (o%derful s!ie%!e of ;osmolo'y (hi!h tells us all about !reatio% of the 0%i-erse. 7-e% more i%tri'ui%' is the 3uestio%, .(hat (ill ha++e% to this 0%i-erse i% the lo%' ru%A /his is the *i%d of 3uestio% that J. N. Islam has raised at the e%d of his s+le%did boo* a%d he has tried to offer a% a%s(er i% the !o%te5t of our +rese%t state of *%o(led'e about the stru!ture of the 0%i-erse a%d the +rese%tly *%o(% la(s of +hysi!s (hi!h ri'orously determi%e the birth a%d death of the stars a%d 'ala5ies !o%stituti%' the i%fi%itely s+read out the +a%orama !alled the 0%i-erse. 6s (e ha-e already stated, our +rese%t *%o(led'e tells us that the 0%i-erse is e5+a%di%'. &ut the most !ru!ial 3uestio% is, .?ill this e5+a%sio% !o%ti%ue for e-er or (ill it !ome to a halt at some +oi%t of time i% the future a%d the% a *i%d of u%i-ersal !o%tra!tio% (ill set i%1A Br (ill there be a bi' !ru%!h or a% e%ormous :i+off leadi%' to the -a%ishi%' of this 0%i-erse of oursA /he model of the 0%i-erse (hi!h (e !a% dis!uss s!ie%tifi!ally i% our !osmolo'i!al studies a%d (hi!h e5+a%ds for e-er is !alled a% . o+e% 0%i-erse. a%d the 0%i-erse (hi!h sto+s e5+a%di%' some time i% the future a%d starts !o%tra!ti%' is !alled the .;losed1 u%i-erse. 6s J. N Islam has ri'htly em+hasi@ed the ultimate fate of the u%i-erse !riti!ally de+e%ds o% the u%ambi'uous a%s(er to this 3uestio% (hi!h de+e%ds for its a%s(er o% the de%sity of the matter a%d radiatio% +rese%t i% the u%i-erse. 6ll the stars a%d 'ala5ies e-ol-e i% time a%d e-e%tually they (ill e5+ire i% the se%se that they (ill rea!h a sta'e (here %o further e-olutio% !a% ta*e +la!e a%y more i% the time s!ale of billio%s of years. I% fa!t our +rese%t *%o(led'e tells us that there are 4ust three defi%ite fi%al states or sta'es for a star %amely the sta'e of (hite d(arf, the sta'e of %eutro% star a%d the sta'e of &la!* ,ole. ?e belie-e %o()a)days that these are the states i% (hi!h matter is i% a hi'hly !o%de%sed form a%d the most !o%de%sed form bei%' the state of the bla!* hole. 7-e%tually, therefore, all the stars i% all the 'ala5ies (ill die to rea!h o%e of these fi%al state of (hite d(arf, %eutro% star or bla!* hole be!ause these are the fi%al states of the stars (he% they are .dead a%d 'o%e1. /his (ill ha++e% i% a thousa%d billio% years a%d the% a lar'e %umber of these dead stars (ill be e4e!ted from the 'ala5ies by !ollisio% (ith other dead stars. I% a billio%, billio% (1#12 years or 1#2< years$, 99C of these dead stars (ill be e4e!ted from the 'ala5ies a%d the remai%i%' 1C (ill form a de%se !ore !oales!i%' i%to a si%'le bla!* hole of mass se-eral billio% solar masses. /his is the ultimate bla!* hole D the fi%al state of the dy%ami!al e-olutio% of the u%i-erse. J. N. Islam has dra(% the !urtai% o% this rather fairy)li*e story by sayi%' that su+er) 'ala!ti! bla!* hole (ill e-e%tually e-a+orate !om+letely i% about 1# 1## years (a 'o'oolE$. I fi%d this story absolutely i%!redible mai%ly be!ause J. N. Islam has %ot me%tio%ed a%y shred of e-ide%!e i% su++ort of this story a%d there is %ot e-e% a refere%!e (here the i%terested readers may loo* u+ for further readi%'. It is a +ity that J. N. Islam did %ot li-e lo%' to add su!h refere%!es to his most readable a!!ou%t of the 0ltimate Fate of the 0%i-erse. 6!!ordi%' to him this 0%i-erse (ill !om+letely e-a+orate i% 1# 1## years a%d !learly (e ha-e +le%ty of time to thi%* about this 0%i-erse of ours a%d !o%tribute to its safe *ee+i%' so that (e do %ot destroy it by e5+lodi%' a fe( atomi! bombs.