21st Century Wire says…
Despite our vast understanding of science, many mysteries still remain to be solved.
Here are the top five reasons why parallel universes may actually exist:
1. We don’t know what the shape of space-time is exactly, but one prominent theory is that it is flat and goes on forever. This would present the possibility of many universes being out there. But with that topic in mind, it’s possible that universes can start repeating themselves because particles can only be put together in so many ways.
2. Another theory for multiple universes comes from “eternal inflation.” Based on research from Tufts University cosmologist Alexander Vilenkin, when looking at space-time as a whole, some areas of space stop inflating like the Big Bang inflated our own universe. Others will keep getting larger. So if we picture our own universe as a bubble, it is sitting in a network of bubble universes of space. The other universes could have very different laws of physics than our own, since they are not linked.
3. Multiple universes can follow the theory of quantum mechanics (how subatomic particles behave), as part of the “daughter universe” theory. If you follow the laws of probability, it suggests that for every outcome that could come from one of your decisions, there would be a range of universes — each of which saw one outcome come to be. So in one universe, you took that job to China. In another, perhaps you were on your way and your plane landed somewhere different, and you decided to stay. And so on.
4. Another possible avenue is exploring mathematical universes, which explain that the structure of mathematics may change depending in which universe you reside. “A mathematical structure is something that you can describe in a way that’s completely independent of human baggage,” said theory-proposer Max Tegmark of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as quoted in the 2012 article. “I really believe that there is this universe out there that can exist independently of me that would continue to exist even if there were no humans.”
5. To go back to the idea that space-time is flat, the number of possible particle configurations in multiple universes would be limited. So, with an infinite number of cosmic patches, the particle arrangements within them must repeat — infinitely many times over. This means there are infinitely many “parallel universes”: cosmic patches exactly the same as ours (containing someone exactly like you), as well as patches that differ by just one particle’s position, patches that differ by two particles’ positions, and so on down to patches that are totally different from ours.
Do you think your life is playing out in a multitude of different ways in different dimensions?
READ MORE ON SPACE & TECH: 21st Century Wire Science Files