-
Asked by josh on 10 Sep 2021.
-
Jacob Maresca answered on 10 Sep 2021:
Nobody knows for certain, but scientists have come up with many different ideas for kinds of parallel universes.
We haven’t managed to test any of them yet though!
-
-
Giles Strong answered on 10 Sep 2021:
Several theories predict parallel universes, provide explanations of several aspects of the universe.
One idea of parallel universes stems from an interpretation of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics describes how the universe behaves at the most microscopic level, and is one of the most precisely measured theories we have in science. Measuring a theory, and understanding its effects on our world, however, are two different problems.
The strange behaviour that results from quantum mechanics gives rise to many interpretations of what is actually happening. Consider the imaginary “Schrödinger’s cat” experiment, in which depending on a random process, a cat will either be alive or dead, but we cannot be sure until we check. The “Copenhagen” interpretation says that the cat is both alive and dead at the same time until we check, but how can something be both alive and dead? The “Many Worlds” interpretation, instead says that a parallel universe is created; one in which the cat is alive, and the other in which the cat is dead.
There are many other ideas which result in parallel universes (string theory, simulated reality, cosmology, etc.), and I’d recommend giving the Wikipedia page a read through: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse
-
Andrew Hone answered on 13 Sep 2021:
In Everett’s many-worlds theory of quantum mechanics, the universe is splitting into separate versions of itself all the time. In quantum theory, the properties of a particle like an electron are described by something called a wave function, which evolves with time. The wave function tells you the probability that the electron will be in a particular state, but you can’t predict which state it will actually be in, only the probability of what you will observe. So say that there are two possible outcomes to an experiment, one being that the electron moves to the left, the other being that it moves to the right; the theory can’t tell you which one will happen, only the chance of each event, so until you make a measurement you don’t know whether it was left/right. The many-worlds theory says that actually both things happen, but the universe splits into two: in one copy of the universe, the electron went left and you observed “left”, while in the other copy, it went right and you recorded a measurement of “right”. But so far as we know there is no way to tell if this interpretation is correct (we don’t know any way to test if it is true or not), and there would be no way to travel between the different versions or worlds.
Comments