For nearly 100 years, physicists have tried to reconcile the physics of the smallest building blocks in the universe (quantum physics) with the physics of large galaxies (Einstein’s theory of general relativity). But they kept coming up against one requirement that was hard to swallow: Their theories only work if we live in a multiverse — if our universe is one of many.
For example, Erwin Schrödinger’s equation explaining quantum wave collapse requires a multiverse. And string theory, which posits that the universe is made up of infinitesimally small, vibrating strings of energy, must also include a multiverse. The problem is that no one can prove the existence of the multiverse, let alone what it looks like, or whether we can interact with it. Still, the math looks promising.
This begs the question: if there is We are Other universes, can we visit them?
More from Popular Mechanics
Many popular films are played with this idea, including Everything everywhere at onceAnd Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of MadnessAnd LokiAnd spiderman: no way home, Others go back decades. But they always have a useful multiverse-traveling device that physicists lack—a magician’s talisman, for example, or a quantum Bluetooth device. Real physicists haven’t quite figured out how to encounter other universes, but the answer depends in part on what kind of multiverse you’re talking about.
Many worlds, many portals
If we live in the world of many worlds, we are creating new worlds or universes all the time. Every time we make a decision or choose a particular path, some versions of us simultaneously choose an alternate path—or perhaps several more, depending on how many possible paths there are. So, if you decide to go on a date with someone some version of you has decided not to, this version is split into a different timeline. Later, if you decide to marry your significant other, another copy of you will decide not to marry, and another copy will be created.
This idea originated with Erwin Schrödinger’s equation about the quantum wave function, which states that a particle exists in a superposition, or wave of probabilities, until it is measured, at which point the wave collapses, leaving a single particle in a specific location. Unfortunately, no one has been able to explain why it collapsed. American physicist Hugh Everett, who postulated the many-worlds interpretation of the wave function in 1955, said that in fact the wave No Collapse. Instead, all possibilities happen. But you will only realize the person you are facing. Others will branch out into different timelines. And since the entire universe exists as part of a single superposition probability wave, the universe divides itself into new timescales all the time.
Loki And Everything everywhere at once It seems that he borrowed from this idea. in LokiHowever, decisions that created new timelines were considered variants of the “sacred” timeline and stripped down, so that only one reality prevailed. in Everything is everywhereCharacters jump to other timelines by doing wild things, such as stapling their foreheads. Such choices, deliberately unnatural to their lives, would help them get to other universes. (They also had a nifty Bluetooth device.)
Today, if we create new time scales, physicists like Sean Carroll say, We will never know or experience them. But an avid viewer of many worlds David Deutch hopes that a mature quantum computer would be able to detect and record the difference. He also believes that one day we’ll be able to upload ourselves into quantum computers, so maybe we’ll be able to see how our other selves fare.
The bubble, the membrane, and the anti-universes
Other multiverse theories posit the universes in our timeline – they are too far away for us to see. These have been suggested by the mathematics of string theory (remember the vibrating strings?) or eternal inflation theory, which states that the multiverse is expanding forever and creating new “bubble universes,” but we’re not likely to encounter too far with them. They may be membranes or “membranes” floating in space, each defined by a set of additional dimensions. Or it could be infinite probability bubbles formed from the inflationary expansion of space and time – called “quantum foam” or “space foam” – creating quantum space-time. Every bubble can expand in the universe.
Some theories suggest that different physical laws in these universes would cause them to collapse without forming stars, or that humans could not survive there. Others say that if there were an infinite number of such universes, some of them would have laws of physics identical to ours, in the same way that a couple who have had infinite children ends up with at least two with the same genetic makeup.
However, interacting with these universes presents a dilemma. It would be great if they bumped into each other nicely; Imagine that, walking down the street, you suddenly encounter an alternate world where the supermarket used to be. But this seems unlikely, as physicists expect the collision of two bubbles of universes to be a violent eventand may be the source of the Big Bang.
tunnels to other universes
Another way to get from one universe to another is through a wormhole, a tunnel of two connected black holes where an incredibly dense mass has pulled space-time into a funnel. Connect two and you can travel long distances quickly, kind of like going through a tunnel in a mountain, rather than over or around it.
A lot of movies are played with wormholes, including Interstellar And Contact. Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicts that a black hole could lead – rather than end up – to the crushing destruction of the gravity of the singularity. Indeed quantum information suppression through a “white hole” at the other end. He called these bridges Einstein-Rosen. A white hole has been described as a black hole traveling backwards through time; It ejects matter as it is sucked in by wormholes. To date, no white holes have been observed, however Scientists are still searching. One theory suggests that we have a mirror or “alien world” that travels back in time, Connected to our universe. There is, too theory Quantum entanglement can bind two ends of a black hole into a wormhole.
But even without wormholes, other possible routes of travel would take us to other universes. One day, we may discover a dimension that traverses space-time. Or a future generation or a more advanced organism that can invent Travel faster than the speed of light Which, barring a wormhole, would be necessary to extend extraordinary distances between these universes.
Meanwhile, it’s fun to imagine what BizarroYou might be ready there.