This year has been a painful one for fans of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, the perennial contender that has fallen to 0–10 on the season. Perhaps Hoosiers can take some small comfort in the thought of a world where star quarterback Peyton Manning is healthy rather than hobbled and the Colts are undefeated rather than winless. If the cosmological concept of the multiverse is correct, such a world could exist right now.
Some theoretical explanations for our universe's beginnings imply that big bangs are not rare—in fact, they are happening all the time, producing an infinite array of universes within a larger multiverse. Most universes would be very different from the one we inhabit, but with so many to choose from, some would resemble ours in every respect—or in almost every respect, except that the Colts remain dominant.
In another hypothetical universe Brian Greene is an orchestral conductor, not a theoretical physicist at Columbia University. See for yourself what that corner of the multiverse might look like in the clip below from Greene's NOVA miniseries, The Fabric of the Cosmos. The fourth and final segment of the series details the reasons why many physicists take the multiverse seriously—and why some fear that the idea verges on the supernatural. The episode "Universe or Multiverse?" airs November 23 on PBS.
Watch Sneak Peek: Universe or Multiverse? on PBS. See more from NOVA.
See what we're tweeting about
9 Comments
Add CommentMore imaginary "science" - what a great way to entice children into reading "science" books!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this>More imaginary "science" - what a great way to entice children into reading "science" books!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou superior contribution would be...?
No weakly extrapolated 'scientific' fantasies from anyone.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPlease see my brief commentary "On not being the first to discover no galactic dark matter", http://www.sciencewithoutfiction.com/uploads/JDwyer.PDF
It includes the straightforward explanation for how the perceived requirement for galactic dark matter was produced by applying inappropriate empirical "laws" of planetary motion to the dynamics of vast, distributed mass galaxies. It also includes references to more recent research papers addressing more appropriate methods of gravitational evaluation describing the rotation of spiral galaxies without requiring any imaginary dark matter or modified gravity.
Which are the measurable consequences of these multiverses? Are there any? ... Logic once implied that heavier objects must fall faster than lighter ones ... Physics is an experimental science, not logical speculation
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswell since the multiverse does not exist I guess that it is fruitless to speculate about such a thing. as was already been pointed out if there is no way for our universe to interact with other universes then we can only speculate on their existence (maybe unicorns exist too). however, it would seem that if the force of gravity operates throughout the proposed multiverse, that the multiverse must eventually become a single universe given enough time (perhaps a hierarchically stratified one if there is a variation in gravitational strength between interacting universes). this means that the interacting universes would reciprocally effect or influence the evolution of each other universe. I'm sorry I am just not sold on the multiverse idea. I think it is a loser of an idea which really does not explain how each universe gets its own cosmic parameters (probability as an explanation does not explain the mechanism(s) that causally determine dimension number and parameters operating in a given universe) unless they are causally connected in some way (with the inevitable result I mentioned earlier).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRead balloon inside balloon theory of matter and antimatter universe on opposite entropy path producing dark energy by annihilation of matter and antimatter at common boundary and injected into our universe as cosmos fabric of ether of uneven field density causing different laws and constants at different locations and a speed of light not universal constant neither the universe is isotropic. ALL ASSUMPTIONS AND POSTULATES OF EINSTEIN IS WRONG NEITHER NEWTON IS CORRECT IN ATTRACTION THEORY OF GRAVITATION. REVISE NEWTON BY F=P.G.M.m/R.R WHERE P IS FACTOR OF PERMEABILITY AND EINSTEIN BY A REVISED LOCALISED RELATIVITY THEORY AND DO NOT APPLY WHEN YOU OBSERVE THE UNIVERSE AT LONG DISTANCES. --durgadas.ddatta@gmail.com
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf there is the possibility of infinite number of universes, shouldn't the probability of the existence of any of us, together with our current locations and statuses be infinitely close to zero? Then why would there be the possibility of duplicates?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlso, about the last bit on "logic" - if we accept the logic that develops within our universe, could we accept the possibility that other types of logic (perhaps similar to ours, perhaps so vastly different that it's beyond our imagination) exist in other universes? Therefore, "our logic" may not lead to the existence of other universes, because our logic is limited itself?
Anyway, these are very interesting questions to explore and discuss that involve multiple disciplines. I'm not familiar with the topics explored by theoretical physics, but it surely inspired further thinking.
The stupidity of scientistic speculation amazes me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNon-verbal critters (like snakes) are telepathic; that's how they find prey to eat.
Okay, so hominid DNA crossed with reptile DNA produces a telepathic hominid/human who can INTUIT by thought contact. This is how shamans and priests "learn" how things work.
People PRAY TO THEIR GOD, and their prayers (which are telepathic communications) are answered. For scientistic dogmatists to wonder aloud if there is any other life is exactly LIKE wondering IF THEY EVER HAD A MOTHER.
They are absurd and silly and there is absolutely no way an intelligent, intuitive, telepathic human being can take this stupid argument seriously.
At Facebook I have an Album of Moon video stills taken by Henning Kemner that shows people walking around unaided on the Moon. Rover photos when decoded also show people on Mars. Cassini photos when decoded show people on the Moons of Saturn!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.184752858279276.49424.183202138434348&type=3
Wake up you Do-Do's! Your speculations are pure silliness!
As I understand it, there are some infinities that are larger than other infinities (for example, the set of integers from minus infinity to plus infinity is larger than the infinity of all positive integers. So it seems to me that the infinity of possibilities of outcomes in our universe would be greater than the possibilities of the number of universes in a multiverse. Or at least, one couldn't assume that there are an infinite number of duplicates of oneself out in the multiverse. Since none can access these multiverses, it's all a matter of faith that they exist at all, but it's still fun to speculate!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAny ideas about how differing sized infinities apply to this discussion?