Universe is a word or term that we use constantly in social and scientific life. In fact, the word universe has many meanings in everyone’s own literature. For me, the most effective and clear definition of the word universe is Greene’s definition; “The totality in which everything conceivable exists.” Isn’t it really like that? It is a whole that contains everything from galaxies, star clusters, planets, people, soil, black holes, dark matter.
So let’s push the limits of our imagination a little bit. How would you react if I asked you to imagine that in another world there is a copy of you who is exactly the same as you, who makes different decisions from you, who makes different choices from the choices you make?
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For some, this situation may be beyond imagination, for others it may be absurd, and for others it may be possible with the idea that ‘Nothing is impossible in physics’. These other worlds I am talking about are what we call Parallel Universes. In this article, we will look for answers to many questions such as; “What are Parallel Universes, what does Multiverse mean, what are their scientific bases?”.
But at the outset, we should point out that there is no evidence or data yet for the existence of parallel universes. However, we have intellectual observations that they exist based on some scientific foundations.
So let us first define the Parallel Universe: A parallel universe is the hypothetical sum of different observable universes, defined as a multiverse. Therefore, based on this definition, we can interpret that our universe is only a part of these multiverses.
One of the first interpretations of parallel universes was made in the field of philosophy. This interpretation is Modal Realism, which was put forward in the 1970s. According to this view, the universes that make up the multiverse are interconnected. They are a single part of a system with certain rules of Physics and Mathematics. They are not separate from each other. All the possible worlds at the other end of the spectrum, which are completely different from each other, exist at the same time on an equal level of reality.
Modal Realism allows us to understand parallel universes on philosophical grounds. According to physicists and mathematicians, all systems are mathematically equally real.
We said that the existence of parallel universes is not certain and that we have no proof yet. But one thing we know for sure is that the universe is constantly expanding. The source of this idea is the famous genius Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Why shouldn’t there be other universes like our expanding universe?
We can understand multiverses more easily with the double slit apparatus. Let’s imagine that we have two different double slit devices and an observer. In one of these setups, we can clearly observe which hole the electrons pass through. In the other setup, we are not aware of this distinction. Therefore, we cannot observe an interference pattern in the second setup. When we look at where the electron is, the wave functions do not collapse, but the universe splits – including the observer. This superposition is the multiverse.
Another theory that provides grounds for the existence of multiverses is Quantum Fluctuation. Quantum Fluctuation is a temporary change in the amount of energy within the famous scientist Heisenberg’s principle that the momentum and position of a particle cannot be measured with complete accuracy (Uncertainty Principle).
To give a concrete example, imagine that you are in a library. There will be fluctuations in the size of this library. Therefore, there will also be fluctuations in the size of a galaxy. So in multiverses, the library you are in has to be a copy of the smallest matter that you can observe.
There are theories that allow us to comment on the existence of multiverses. The first one is String Theory and the second one is M-Theory, which is similar to String Theory. Let’s first talk about String Theory:
String theory is a candidate to become the ‘theory of everything’. According to this theory, the universe is not made of dots, but of strings that vibrate like dots. Each vibration corresponds to an electron. According to string theory, the universe has 11 dimensions, 10 space and 1 time dimension, not 4.
M-Theory, a second theory Witten conceived that is poised to become the ‘theory of everything’, is very similar to string theory. The point-like particles that are strings in string theory are here replaced by vibrating membranes.
These theories (both String Theory and M-Theory do not yet have observational evidence, they are based only on mathematical foundations) were seen by scientists as explaining the Big Bang and the singularity. In other words, the collision of two strings or two dice could have caused the Big Bang. The connection between these theories and the multiverse is that two strings or dice collided in different places and new universes were created.
Types of Parallel Universes
Parallel universes are analyzed under four classes: I, II, III and IV types.
Type I Parallel Universe: This is the type of parallel universe that Tegmark describes as the Hubble volumes that are very far away. Our copies live in this very distant universe. They make choices different from our choices, they make decisions different from our decisions. Everything that could happen in our universe has already happened in such universes
Type II Parallel Universe: In any of the bubble universes in the metaverse, we inevitably find life. In the bubble universes that are not suitable for life, there are no life forms.
Type III Parallel Universe: The parallel universes found in Everett-style quantum physics are of this type.
Type IV Parallel Universes: Classified by Tegmark. The laws of physics in this type of parallel universe are completely different from all other universes.
The parallel universes we present in our article are still being studied theoretically. However, String Theory, M-Theory and the Theory of Relativity, which we mentioned in the content, provide mathematical evidence for the existence of parallel universes. Who knows, maybe one day we will receive a signal from our copy in a different universe.
Source:
Brian Greene / Hidden Reality
Kerem Cankoçak / Multiverses or Parallel Universes
https://web.itu.edu.tr/~kcankocak/docs/Multiverse-kerem-cankocak.pdf
