Is there any evidence that we live in the Multiverse?

Table of contents:

Is there any evidence that we live in the Multiverse?
Is there any evidence that we live in the Multiverse?
Anonim

Do you think there is a parallel universe? Or are there many of them? Despite the fact that conversations about parallel worlds are a favorite topic of science fiction writers, theoretical physics admits their existence. For example, the outstanding theoretical physicist and legend of cosmology Stephen Hawking believed that one can get into another reality through a black hole. Another famous scientist Michio Kaku offers a slightly different view of the Multiverse - from the point of view of quantum mechanics, according to the laws of which the same particle can exist in two places at the same time. Moreover, Kaku notes that more and more scientists today do not believe in the existence of a single universe, considering this point of view to be only one of many theories that can explain the structure of our world. But is there even the slightest proof of the existence of many worlds or, on the contrary, their absence? Let's figure it out.

Another world

I want to warn the reader right away that all talk about parallel worlds in one way or another rests on the laws describing how elementary particles (protons, photons, electrons, quarks, etc.) interact with each other. And everything related to quantum physics, and I'm not exaggerating, is very, very difficult. And sometimes to such an extent that scientists themselves openly admit that they do not understand it. But if the smartest representatives of the human race cannot say with certainty how the Universe is arranged at the atomic level, what can we say about all the rest, ordinary inhabitants of the planet? Is it possible to understand at all how many alternative realities there are?

To begin with, modern science cannot yet prove or disprove the existence of the Multiverse. And this means that the fine line between science and science fiction can be difficult to notice, but we will not go beyond the limits of physical theories.

Image
Image

Who knows, maybe right now you from a parallel universe are also reading this article.

So, in an interview with Russia Today, Dr. Michio Kaku argues that theoretical physics is seriously considering the possibility that our universe can coexist with other worlds. So, if the multiverse is real, it can explain many of the laws of nature. Moreover, the existence of parallel universes could explain the appearance of life on our planet - just remember the sequence of random events that allowed our distant ancestors to emerge from the water onto land. From the outside, it may even seem that the Universe exists only to give birth to you and me. But does this mean that somewhere in space there is God? Not necessary. Kaku notes that the very fact of our existence may indicate that in other universes our planet would not have the Moon, and the energy of the Sun might not be enough to maintain the temperature on Earth for the emergence of life.

Where is the proof?

Last spring, a report from the world's largest neutrino telescope - a sprawling array of detectors woven into Antarctic ice - coincided with a flash of hyperbolic headlines in the world's media. It was argued that scientists have finally discovered evidence for the existence of a parallel world. True, very unusual - the researchers argued that time in this world goes in the opposite direction, and the Big Bang represents the end, not the beginning. Although it is too early to start looking for its aging twin, physicists have suggested the existence of such a universe for a reason. The fact is that they caught strange signals from space that defy simple explanation.

Six years ago, during an experiment in Antarctica, researchers discovered strange particles that may indicate the existence of a parallel reality. A device called the Antarctic Pulse Transition Antenna (ANITA) picks up radio signals generated when high-energy particles from deep space collide with our atmosphere. Some waves slide along the ground before ANITA picks them up, while others bounce off the ice.

Image
Image

A giant balloon that carried a set of ANITA antennas over Antarctica.

At the heart of this mystery are neutrinos: ghostly, high-energy particles that can pass through almost any material unharmed, but can produce treacherous radio pulses that ANITA picks up. To further study the unusual signals, physicists turned to IceCube, a neutrino telescope made up of long strings of detectors located near the south pole. Neutrinos passing through the ice can produce other particles that emit tiny flashes of light that IceCube's sensors can detect.

New data, published in March in The Astrophysical Journal, means scientists will have to keep looking for less obvious explanations. Some have suggested that the anomalies were due to radio waves bouncing off caves or lakes buried in ice. Other theorists have suggested more exotic ideas, such as that heavy, high-energy particles, according to ANITA data, could describe one candidate for dark matter - a mysterious substance that the researchers believe makes up 85% of all matter in the universe. And, finally, others have put forward a hypothesis according to which exotic particles correspond to the existing theoretical model of a parallel universe - our symmetrical, but inhabited by antimatter and moving in the opposite direction.

Agree, all three assumptions are at least intriguing and literally force us to imagine what the universe could actually be. One way or another, to date, there is no 100% proof that the particles that ANITA captured really come from a parallel world, in which the opposite is true. Researchers working on the project note that there is still a lot of work and double-checking of the data ahead, so it remains only to wait for the results of future discoveries.

Recommended: