Top 10 Theories the Multiverse is a Real Possibility
It seems like some parts of society and pop culture are coming to terms with the fact that our reality isn’t quite as black and white as we thought. I mean, it’s about time, right? We couldn’t be convinced that our 5 senses were all that there is. Are parallel universes real? Let’s look at the top 10 reasons this multiverse theory could be a real possibility.
10. The Schrödinger's Cat Theory
Physicists are basically living in Wonderland, but in the best way, don’t get me wrong. They’ve had to adjust some rules for quantum mechanics that could even allow a concept of multiverses. For one, particles had to stop having a definitive way of being. They simply were all the different possibilities they could be, and we could observe one of those possibilities when we looked at them. I know this sounds kind of complex, and they do too, which is why they illustrate it with the idea of Schrodinger’s Cat. Here it goes: if there’s a cat in a box, in theory, it is both alive and dead at the same time. Until you open to check, that is. Then the action forces the cat to choose one. However, in a multiverse, once you open the box, reality splits and both of these things are true. One version of you has opened the box to find a dead cat, the other version opened to say “awww”. Creepy but cool, eh?
9. Bubble Universes
Another way that multiple universes could exist is, and I’m sure my daughter is a true believer of this, in “bubbles”. This theory is called “eternal inflation”. The theory by Alexander Vilenkin says that after the Big Bang, the universe expanded very quickly, like a balloon, but some pockets stopped inflating after a time, while others continued, which give some universes this isolated nature, of being on their own, in their own bubble. This would mean we live in one of those bubble universes and we’re just one of many, many bubbles. Like as many as were in my bubble bath I took earlier - you're welcome for the visuals.
8. Beginning and End
With a multiverse theory, this question that we have about how the universe started, and how it could possibly end, could finally have an answer! There’s a theory out there that states that there are these things called braneworlds, spelled B-R-A-N-E. They’re infinite regions of the multiverse and exist in many dimensions but remain undetected because of our limited 3-dimensional perspective of space, plus time. If these braneworlds bumped into each other, they could cause more Big Bangs, during which parallel universes would proceed to restart over and over and over. Go back and watch Russian Doll, if that’s not a direct allusion to Braneworlds, I don’t even know what it is. With this theory, technically, we could actually be just a temporary restart of our own universe until the next one happens.
7. Parallel Universes
One of the most common theories that we all hear about is the “parallel universe” theory. This theory comes from string theory and is also tied to this “braneworlds” idea we just talked about. According to this line of thinking, many other 3-dimensional branes could float in higher dimensional space. In that sense, they’d be living lives possibly just like ours, with different circumstances and totally oblivious to our existence like we are to theirs. What we need to figure out now is how to travel between them! I’ll volunteer as a guinea pig.
6. Observational Evidence
This one may seem kind of basic but other theories about the multiverse also stem from, like, looking at the universe. The European Space Agency's Planck orbital observatory has been checking out the universe for cosmic microwave background, which is just radiation leftover from the beginning of our universe. Research from this observation may be giving us serious reasons to think we live in a multiverse. Back in 2010, scientists discovered some patterns that could be, essentially, bruises that our universe got from other universes! Ouch? And also, what other universes!? Tell us more!
5. Daughter Universes
For number five let’s talk about the world of Quantum mechanics. No, I promise this is going to be fun. This particular field doesn’t quite focus on outcomes as much as the probabilities of said outcomes. In this sense, they really get a broader view of theories because even if they’re a little probable, they’re still on the table. However, this also means that if there’s a chance of multiple outcomes, there’s also a chance that there’s a universe in which that outcome does occur. In this case, every possibility is a daughter universe. Kind of a choose your own adventure book, but from every possible choice, a new universe.
4. The Universe Is Just Too Big Number four is really simple
Since we can’t prove that the parallel realities do not exist, there has to be a possibility that they do. This is kind of like the American “innocent until proven guilty” except more like we’re “multidimensional until proven alone”. We’ve already discovered a bunch of things that we never thought existed, especially right here on Earth, so it’s really not that far fetched. Events that nobody thought would happen have happened, the world is way more unpredictable than we think, and we barely scratched the surface of our own planet, let alone our universe or anyone else’s.
3. Math and Stuff
Could math be another universe? No, hear me out. Scientists are debating whether we use math to explain the world around us (and inside us) or if math is in and of itself a reality. This last possibility would mean that all possible mathematical structures (not just the ones we find true in our reality) could exist as their own universes. This one may be one of the most complicated theories why the multiverse is a real possibility but, hey, math!
2. Just Too True, For An Atheist
While those with religious faith take comfort in the fact that if our world were just minutely different than it is, we wouldn’t exist, in the multiverse theory, this isn’t the case. The universe, according to Stanford physicist Andre Linde, “might reproduce itself eternally in all its possible manifestations” which means we’re just living in that one where all the atoms are perfectly right, the particles match and bond, and build up to make us. According to this theory, there could be infinite universes in which none of this happened and we don’t exist.
1. Rules On Time Travel
Most time travel movies and series focus on the changes we could make if we could just re-do that thing we did wrong. However, the multiverse theory throws a curveball at time travel. Time Travel, according to a science writer named George Dvorsky, would make all of that unnecessary. If instead of going back in time to undo that thing that would have changed all our lives for the better, we could just travel to the universe where that thing didn’t happen at all. If we did go back in time and change something, we’d just create a whole new list of universes where all the other possibilities happened. Kind of pointless, if you ask me, just stick to what happened, accept it and let’s all move on.
UPDATE NEW TOPIC
