Universe Is Small 'Piece' Of Giant Multiverse

Irina Shlionskaya

We are accustomed to believe that our Universe includes the entire universe together with time, space and numerous constellations and galaxies. However, this is most likely not the case, and it is just a relatively small "piece" of the giant Multiverse. Scientists have been talking about this more and more lately.

By the end of this century, we should have information about whether we live in a multiverse, and how diverse the “universes” that make it up,” predicts the famous British cosmologist and astrophysicist, Lord Martin Rees. “The answer to this question will determine how we should interpret "biologically friendly" universe in which we live.

According to Rees, what arose after the notorious Big Bang could occur only in one section of time and space. And not the fact that the explosion was the only one. If there is a practically infinite Multiverse, then copies of our world may even exist in it - such an assumption is made by Dan Hooper, who heads the theoretical astrophysics group at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Chicago).

“If space is truly infinite,” he writes in his book, At the Edge of Time, “then the consequences will be overwhelming. In infinite space, it is difficult to find a reason why there would not be an infinite number of galaxies, stars and planets, and even an infinite number of intelligent or conscious beings scattered throughout this boundless volume." But what about the real evidence for this hypothesis?

“This picture of many universes is not a random idea, but a specific scenario proposed by fundamental physics theories such as string theory,” comments Yasunori Nomura, director of the Berkeley Centre for Theoretical Physics. “Thus, we could test the predictions of this scenario without even going to another universe. For example, our universe could collide with another universe, the trace of which, in principle, can be seen in the sky, in particular, in the form of a characteristic pattern in the so-called cosmic microwave background radiation."

However, in this case, Nomura continues, our own universe must have certain geometric properties, that is, be negatively curved. This may be shown by future observations. There is also a hypothesis that in other universes the laws of physics may be different from in the one where we live.

“For example, the nature of elementary particles and the law that governs their behaviour have different forms,” Nomura explains. “For some universes, even the number of dimensions of space-time can be different.” Although, according to Nomura, neighbouring universes may be completely different from ours, there must be physical laws that apply equally throughout the Multiverse. In particular, these are the principles of quantum mechanics.

“It’s just that some properties of our Universe, which we traditionally considered fundamental, are not as fundamental as we thought,” the scientist argues. “Among them is the nature of elementary particles—even the existence of an electron, a photon, and so on.”

Dan Hooper agrees with his colleague. “There may be different forms of matter that experience the action of different forces,” he believes. According to Hooper, physical laws may not be something universal and can change depending on the environment.

-- Pravda.ru