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The Fermi paradox: impact of astrophysical processes and dynamical evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2022

Dominik R.G. Schleicher Open the ORCID record for Dominik R.G. Schleicher [Opens in a new window]  and
Stefano Bovino
Dominik R.G. Schleicher*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Astronomía, Facultad Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Concepción, Av. Esteban Iturra s/n Barrio Universitario, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
Stefano Bovino
Affiliation:
Departamento de Astronomía, Facultad Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Concepción, Av. Esteban Iturra s/n Barrio Universitario, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
*
Author for correspondence: Dominik R.G. Schleicher, E-mail: dschleicher@astro-udec.cl
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Abstract

The Fermi paradox has given rise to various attempts to explain why no evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations was found so far on Earth and in our Solar System. Here, we present a dynamical model for the development of such civilizations, which accounts for self-destruction, colonization and astrophysical destruction mechanisms of civilizations including gamma-ray bursts, type Ia and type II supernovae as well as radiation from the supermassive black hole. We adopt conservative estimates regarding the efficiency of such processes and find that astrophysical effects can influence the development of intelligent civilizations and change the number of systems with such civilizations by roughly a factor of $2$; potentially more if the feedback is enhanced. Our results show that non-equilibrium evolution allows for solutions in-between extreme cases such as ‘rare Earth’ or extreme colonization, including scenarios with civilization fractions between $10^{-2}$ and $10^{-7}$. These would imply still potentially large distances to the next such civilizations, particularly when persistence phenomena are being considered. As previous studies, we confirm that the main uncertainties are due to the lifetime of civilizations as well as the assumed rate of colonization. For SETI-like studies, we believe that unbiased searches are needed considering both the possibilities that the next civilizations are nearby or potentially very far away.

Keywords

Drake equationFermi paradoxhabitable planetintelligent lifeinterplanetary colonization
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , February 2023 , pp. 1 - 14
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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