the multiverse theory

[Col. Crackpot]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/955038.asp?0cv=CB20

the whole parallel universe bit does seem a bit cliched.....thoughts anyone?

[Zac Naloen]

I've always like the possibilties put forth by quantum physics, despite te fact that i haven't a clue how any of it works

I like the idea of their being a Multiverse as it allows for time travel and all sorts of cool things

[SyntaxVorlon]

In Scifi, it's a cool idea, it can mean alt histories plus scifi weapons, or Arthur Dent loses his gf.
And though it does make certain things clearer, it may be just another useless fact because it may be simply impossible to go anywhere else.

[Zoink]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/955038.asp?0cv=CB20

the whole parallel universe bit does seem a bit cliched.....thoughts anyone?

There was a very good article on this in Scientific American. It was by an american phycisit who specializes in CMB studies. It included some really good graphics that explained the relationship between our universe and the others.

He discussed the different possible "parralel" universes:

Type 1: Infinite space

Basically like the article above, in infinite space things must eventually repeat because there is a finite number of arangements in a finite area (ie. finite amount of info in our visible universe).

Eg. if our visible universe were small and given by the binary "1010", in an infinite series of numbers the "1010" must repeat again. He goes on to give the statistical distance to this parralel universe (something like 10^27 meters away).

IMHO, this is different then saying "everything happens"... there need not be a world with invisible elves riding flying pink pigs... just that arrangements that are possible (like ours) must repeat.


Type 2: Inflation bubbles.

Theories suggest that the universe expanded from an infinite "sheet" (illustration purposes only) and different region may have expanded at different rates, or not expanded at all. Each bubble may have different physical constants for the various forces and such. So there may be an infinite number of universes, each an infinity in size.


Type 3: Probability.

Basically that everything that can happen does.. (like that TNG episode with the zillion enterprises). He has a picture of an infinite series of bubbles, each defining a specific static "state" where our universe is simple a line connecting various states, and our perception of time is an illusion and is simply our brain percieving the difference between one state and the next.

Type 4: Other space.

Other universes existing in a different "reality" with no link what-so-ever to our own, which could look like anything. He doesn't talk about this much, just includes some computer models of some bizarre space-times.


... I might have missed one. He's not saying these universes exist for cetain, just that current theories allow for these to exist.

[kojikun]

The article said that the exact replicates of use are 10^(10^28) LY away. Perhaps thats the circumference of this space-time domain.

[Enforcer Talen]

oh god this hurts my head.

working solely on theory, when our universe is becoming nicely cold - would it be possible to move to another one?

assuming humanity survives that long, I dont see another option for its existence when the stars are cold.