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from the Two-Roads-Diverged-in-a-Yellow-Wood dept.
The existence of parallel universes may seem like something cooked up by science fiction writers, with little relevance to modern theoretical physics. But the idea that we live in a “multiverse” made up of an infinite number of parallel universes has long been considered a scientific possibility – although it is still a matter of vigorous debate among physicists. The race is now on to find a way to test the theory, including searching the sky for signs of collisions with other universes.
It is important to keep in mind that the multiverse view is not actually a theory, it is rather a consequence of our current understanding of theoretical physics. This distinction is crucial. We have not waved our hands and said: “Let there be a multiverse”. Instead the idea that the universe is perhaps one of infinitely many is derived from current theories like quantum mechanics and string theory.
The universes predicted by string theory and inflation live in the same physical space (unlike the many universes of quantum mechanics which live in a mathematical space), they can overlap or collide. Indeed, they inevitably must collide, leaving possible signatures in the cosmic sky which we can try to search for.
Whether we will ever be able to prove their existence is hard to predict. But given the massive implications of such a finding it should definitely be worth the search.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Friday September 04 2015, @05:55PM
On the other hand, if astronomers *aren't* searching for proof of the multiverse, they might not find the data which could lead to that updated theory of gravity.
This isn't a video game where you get the entire tech tree laid out before you and you just have to choose where to go. If we really knew with any certainty where the research was going to lead, we wouldn't need to research it! :)