I enjoyed watching the BBC documentary "Parallel Universe" about a month of two ago. However, does this idea that M-Theory can lead to other universes really hold water?

Is there REALLY a universe where the events of Harry Potter actually took place?

Is there REALLY a universe that I rule over with an iron fist?

Scientists are trying to unify all the laws of nature into one theory. Gravity is the only force that is hard to unify with the others.

In an attempt to unify gravity with the other theories, mathematicians and physicists use equations and mathematical constructs assuming from state A to state B a particle assumes all possible paths. This, to some scientists, implies that there are parallel universes in which the particles assumed different positions.

Because of the "all possible paths", which is really referring to particles, some may conclude that there are parallel universes for any time-line ever possible as long as they are not contradicting. There are varying opinions on this among the science community though. However, again it should be noted that if there are parallel universes, in all practical purposes they would be unreachable and that the "if they exist?" question is a small topic in the search for the theory of everything.

Of course ratings probably played a roll in the presentation of that documentary (intense music/ commentary), but it provides some good commentary and description to a viewer who may not highly educated in Quatnum or Theorectical Physics such as myself, where I do have a general feel for some of it.

i do think parrallel universes are possible however not in the sense where your outlining above (eg for every action we make a universe splits apart) but regions of the universe where the rules of physics are different i would say is probable, even likely (such as different strengths of gravity, the constants are different, the speed of light is different, there are extra quarks in a proton etc) - outside ours simply because we cant travel it or observe it (whether this is a part of our own universe, for example different "terrains" in our universe where the laws of physics are different in the hills than they are in the valleys, or seperate universes in their own rights)

Some light reading for a wednesday after noon.

I pretty much wrote about this in my LHC thread:



Basically, that's why the LHC is so important as the results it may (or may not) yield will help support M-theory and as I've already stated, present us with the theory of everything.

Theoretical physics is the biggest mindfuck of all. (IMG:http://media.profileheaven.com/images/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Probs subconciously thinking of your thread that gave me the idea (IMG:http://media.profileheaven.com/images/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:http://media.profileheaven.com/images/style_emoticons/default/emot-fail.gif)

I don't buy into this theory of multiple universes that have every single possibility in them.

I do think there could be multiple universes that are using the same matter as we see but in such a way as its undetectable to us. Is this not why they think that gravity is alot weaker than theoretically it should be?

Maybe. It's certainly a possibility.

I just love the fact that if you have a very small magnet and drop it to the floor and there's something that will attract the magnet before it falls down, it will stick to it rather than hit the floor. The whole force of gravity is defeated by a tiny magnet. (IMG:http://media.profileheaven.com/images/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

I think it is more metaphysics than physics at this point.

But this ties into infinity. If our single universe were infinite, does that mean that anything above zero probablity happens an infinite amount of times? You could rule an infinite amount of worlds. But you would be a slave on an infinite number of worlds too. I have actually seen cosmologists/mathematicians make calcuations about how far away the next Earth is. I don't mean not how far away the next hospitable planet is, but how far away the next earth is. The whole setup. A complete replication of our Solar System and everything in it including us and everything that happens within it. Jupiter is the same exact size and composition, Hitler happened, I have the same parents, etc.. Everything.

But the idea that a new universe billions of light years in size is created everytime an ant twitches his antenna or I decide which parking spot to take, is actually not thought of as so ridiculous by many people in the field.

This post has been edited by Pet Sounds: Mar 10 2010, 4:44 PM

I think the theory that a universe has ran up exactly identical until that point is possible, I think the misunderstanding is that a new one is created with the other choice rather than already existed as a totally identical universe up until that decision, because if there are an infinite amount of universes, there would be an infinite amount currently, running along with everything identical to our own, and will only become distinguishable through certain choices in the future.

iv read about this aswell its fascinating that an exact replica of this planet somewhere in the universe simply because of the size of the universe (IMG:http://media.profileheaven.com/images/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Just having a little think about that, it's mental. How many exact replicas will there be? Infinite amount. Then there's all the near misses, that will have their replicas and so on. Infinite amount of replicas of an infinite amount of planets, stars, universes the lot. I've never really thought about how uncomprehensible it is until now. I've only ever simply thought there must be a habitable planet somewhere else due to the vastness.

the best way to think about the universe is to not think about it atall (IMG:http://media.profileheaven.com/images/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) its utterly mind boggling even for the best of our species


think about it slightly this way: earth is the centre of a circle, at the first circle surrounding it, there are planets with the same chemical composition as our own. At another further circle, there are planets with a similar look to ours except the landmasses are different
at another further circle, the landmasses begin to resemble something earth-like
at a further circle, the differences are comparitavely minute, france is in the carribean and germany is the new australia
at a further circle, even the positioning and height of the hills are identical


the funny part is each of these planets have the "further circle"s around them aswell. An uncountable number of planets in an impossibly large universe

This post has been edited by The Orangutang: Mar 12 2010, 5:30 PM