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Parallel Universes; Extreme Physics; Exclusive Online Issues; by Max Tegmark; 12 Page(s)

Is there a copy of you reading this article? A person who is not you but who lives on a planet called Earth, with misty mountains, fertile fields and sprawling cities, in a solar system with eight other planets? The life of this person has been identical to yours in every respect. But perhaps he or she now decides to put down this article without finishing it, while you read on.

The idea of such an alter ego seems strange and implausible, but it looks as if we will just have to live with it, because it is supported by astronomical observations. The simplest and most popular cosmological model today predicts that you have a twin in a galaxy about 10 to the 1028 meters from here. This distance is so large that it is beyond astronomical, but that does not make your doppelg228;nger any less real. The estimate is derived from elementary probability and does not even assume speculative modern physics, merely that space is infinite (or at least sufficiently large) in size and almost uniformly filled with matter, as observations indicate. In infinite space, even the most unlikely events must take place somewhere. There are infinitely many other inhabited planets, including not just one but infinitely many that have people with the same appearance, name and memories as you, who play out every possible permutation of your life choices.

Oh how I wish they'd bring back Sliders.

One of the best Sci-Fi shows that ever existed was a show called Sliders. The show involved a group of reluctant individuals who have found themselves in an interesting situation. They've travelled through a wormhole, and are trying to get home.

Your first question is what's a wormhole. If you're not a sci-fi fan, then the best way to describe it, is a tunnel which connects two different spaces. Think of it as the door-frame to your house. On one side of the door is the outside, and on the other is the inside. Travel through the door and you can move between the to places. Now put that "door-frame" between two universes, and suddenly you have instant access to travel between them.

Or atleast that's what I got out of the show.

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One way is the Multiverse theory. This theory, proposed by David Deutsch, indicates that there exists a universe for every possibility. Every time an event could have more than one outcome there is a universe created for each outcome. In our universe a meteorite caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. A parallel universe exists in which the meteorite missed Earth, and possibly several others in which the meteorite struck another planet or was not formed at all. In a parallel universe Hitler did not invade Russia and consequently won the Second World War. In yet another, Elvis is still alive.

But could it be possible that they are real? 58% of physicists, including Hawkins says yes. 18%, including some British nut named Roger Penrose, says no. 11% don't know, and frankly don't care. But, as an American the true test of whether we should believe something is if Einstein thought it was real. For Americans Einstein is the benchmark by which we measure the validity of scientific data. Einstein along with some guy named Nathan Rosen suggested that black holes, and their counterparts the "good" white holes, would pair to form a vortex wormhole. You may have actually heard this phenomenon before referred to as the Einstein-Rosen bridge. The idea is that all the matter is sucked up like a run away hoover into a black hole, doesn't disappear, but is shot out it's bum somewhere else; perhaps an alternate universe.


So somewhere out there in space and time, there could be another Daily Planet, another me, living a different life. Maybe in another universe, I'm rich, skinny and can actually spell. No really it could be possible. The question is how do I transverse this wormhole to where skinny Liv is, kill her, and take her place? You can't yet. Supposedly going through a black-hole hurts a little, or atleast we think it does:

What happens to you if you fall into a black hole?

In a blackhole, I won't, before I fall in, be able to see anything within the event horizon. But there's nothing locally special about the event horizon; when I get there it won't seem like a particularly unusual place, except that I will see strange optical distortions of the sky around me from all the bending of light that goes on. But as soon as I fall through, I'm doomed. I have to hit the singularity eventually, and before I get there there will be enormous tidal forces-- forces due to the curvature of space-time-- which will squash me in some directions and stretch them in another until I look like a piece of spaghetti. At the singularity all of present physics is mute as to what will happen, but I won't care. I'll be dead.

Of course that's the "bad outcome" of the "choose your own adventure: wormhole edition", and the truth is we really don't know what happens when you jump in that wormhole. Until someone volunteers, and we can find one then the best we can do, is guess. Some people even think the Bermuda triangle may be a wormhole through the Earth that leads to a similar spot on the other side of the earth.

The truth of the matter as soon as America accomplishes transversing a stable wormhole, somehow Republican's will find a way to make money off of it, and some how Delta Airlines will still have layovers in Atlanta.... and that's a fact.

Fact or Fiction?

How about 'Possibility that does not contradict what we know about the universe.'

The whole multiverse, trousers of time, portal is speculation based on what might be possible rather than what there is evidence for.

Einstein himself did not believe in black holes - even though they were predicted by his theories - so the idea of one as a portal is certainly not one he would have supported.

Hawkins has changed his mind about the 'Doorway to parallel universe' idea

Stephen Hawkins wrote:There is no baby universe branching off, as I once thought. The information remains firmly in our universe.
...
I'm sorry to disappoint science fiction fans, but if information is preserved, there is no possibility of using black holes to travel to other universes. If you jump into a black hole, your mass energy will be returned to our universe, but in a mangled form, which contains the information about what you were like, but in an unrecognizable state.

"Returned to our universe in a mangled form" - Sounds like my last Continental flight.

So would you say that you're not a believer in them?

Hawkins has pratically conceded in the past, and a few years later goes back and proves he was right to begin with.

Liv wrote:So would you say that you're not a believer in them?

No I don't 'believe' they exist, I don't have any real basis for believing or otherwise. I believe that it's possible they exist but that there is (as yet) no evidence. And frankly I don't understand the theory at anything more than a superficial level.

If it makes you happy - I think it's far more likely that they exist than God exists. At least there is a framework to explain their existence and they don't require the suspension of natural laws.

Past discussions of Parallel Universes have led to doubt and confusion. According to Oxford Scientists... they do exist:

Parallel universes really do exist, according to a mathematical discovery by Oxford scientists described by one expert as "one of the most important developments in the history of science".

The parallel universe theory, first proposed in 1950 by the US physicist Hugh Everett, helps explain mysteries of quantum mechanics that have baffled scientists for decades, it is claimed.

In Everett's "many worlds" universe, every time a new physical possibility is explored, the universe splits. Given a number of possible alternative outcomes, each one is played out - in its own universe.

A motorist who has a near miss, for instance, might feel relieved at his lucky escape. But in a parallel universe, another version of the same driver will have been killed. Yet another universe will see the motorist recover after treatment in hospital. The number of alternative scenarios is endless.

It is a bizarre idea which has been dismissed as fanciful by many experts. But the new research from Oxford shows that it offers a mathematical answer to quantum conundrums that cannot be dismissed lightly - and suggests that Dr Everett, who was a PhD student at Princeton University when he came up with the theory, was on the right track.

Commenting in New Scientist magazine, Dr Andy Albrecht, a physicist at the University of California at Davis, said: "This work will go down as one of the most important developments in the history of science."

According to quantum mechanics, nothing at the subatomic scale can really be said to exist until it is observed. Until then, particles occupy nebulous "superposition" states, in which they can have simultaneous "up" and "down" spins, or appear to be in different places at the same time.

Observation appears to "nail down" a particular state of reality, in the same way as a spinning coin can only be said to be in a "heads" or "tails" state once it is caught.

According to quantum mechanics, unobserved particles are described by "wave functions" representing a set of multiple "probable" states. When an observer makes a measurement, the particle then settles down into one of these multiple options.

The Oxford team, led by Dr David Deutsch, showed mathematically that the bush-like branching structure created by the universe splitting into parallel versions of itself can explain the probabilistic nature of quantum outcomes.

Cool. In another universe I'm rich. How do I get there, kill her and take her place?

Hummmmm, there is no science that can tell us anything about parallel universes and therefore there can be no evidence that allows me to form an opinion about the topic.

movromka wrote:Hummmmm, there is no science that can tell us anything about parallel universes and therefore there can be no evidence that allows me to form an opinion about the topic.

If there is a science that can tell us anything about other universes, it would be physics. If physicists find any evidence regarding this notion, you'll eventually hear about it.

Liv wrote:Cool. In another universe I'm rich. How do I get there, kill her and take her place?

She heard that and has taken out a preemptive contract on you.

A Person wrote:

Liv wrote:Cool. In another universe I'm rich. How do I get there, kill her and take her place?

She heard that and has taken out a preemptive contract on you.

That's cool, but how do you collect on it after you make the hit?

You send a message using the Tersuran language and wait by the vast Time Tunnels of Tersurus.