Posted on 09/24/2007 4:10:41 PM PDT by anymouse
Parallel universes really do exist, according to a mathematical discovery by Oxford scientists described by one expert as "one of the most important developments in the history of science".
The parallel universe theory, first proposed in 1950 by the US physicist Hugh Everett, helps explain mysteries of quantum mechanics that have baffled scientists for decades, it is claimed.
In Everett's "many worlds" universe, every time a new physical possibility is explored, the universe splits. Given a number of possible alternative outcomes, each one is played out - in its own universe.
A motorist who has a near miss, for instance, might feel relieved at his lucky escape. But in a parallel universe, another version of the same driver will have been killed. Yet another universe will see the motorist recover after treatment in hospital. The number of alternative scenarios is endless.
It is a bizarre idea which has been dismissed as fanciful by many experts. But the new research from Oxford shows that it offers a mathematical answer to quantum conundrums that cannot be dismissed lightly - and suggests that Dr Everett, who was a Phd student at Princeton University when he came up with the theory, was on the right track.
Commenting in New Scientist magazine, Dr Andy Albrecht, a physicist at the University of California at Davis, said: "This work will go down as one of the most important developments in the history of science."
According to quantum mechanics, nothing at the subatomic scale can really be said to exist until it is observed. Until then, particles occupy nebulous "superposition" states, in which they can have simultaneous "up" and "down" spins, or appear to be in different places at the same time.
Observation appears to "nail down" a particular state of reality, in the same way as a spinning coin can only be said to be in a "heads" or "tails" state once it is caught.
According to quantum mechanics, unobserved particles are described by "wave functions" representing a set of multiple "probable" states. When an observer makes a measurement, the particle then settles down into one of these multiple options.
The Oxford team, led by Dr David Deutsch, showed mathematically that the bush-like branching structure created by the universe splitting into parallel versions of itself can explain the probabilistic nature of quantum outcomes.
Not exactly like this, I didn’t post a reply in Universe Alternate #23435
Things could be worse. Imagine being in a universe where Al Gore won the 2000 election, or in which #42 won a third term.
I agree with what you are saying. In a later posting I noted that they have gone back to the parallel universe theory. So this really isn’t new at all.
I do not care for Hawking, he is more thief than theorist as far as I am concerned.
I think God could have programmed the universe in 12 dimensions. I wasn’t kidding on my initial comment.
I am looking for the next big real Theory to be the “Theory of Gravity”. I.e. a real explanation of as the Force we all know it needs to be. Look for it to have a teeny tiny mass component (of course) (sub-atomic) and a speed which EXCEEDS that of light by 2 to 3 times.
Yes, but I am there and saw you lurking.
I thought it would be DU or the Kos Kommies...
Does that mean in a parallel parallel universe it’s just bunk.
The moon bats have figures out how to squeeze between the pores.
Is there a universe in which Art Bell is percieved as believable?
I'd like to see the alternate universe where I had the nerve to proposition Ann Coulter and the alternate universe where she decided "Oh, what the hell!" instead of slapping my face.
What you mean “unfortunately”?
Case in point: the myriad personalities of Hillary Clinton...
“For that reason alone,the theory must be rejected as implausible.”
Or at the very least,deeply disturbing.
Thank you for your service. My son is doing his right now in Afghanistan.
Parallel universes really do exist
—
Been there done that
Great trips! :-}
.. but the interuniversal access fees’ll kill ya!
Pack for both cold and warm.
So in the other universe I’m holding a winnning Powerball ticket. Cool!
Now if only I could get a few of me that hit the lotteries to send me a few bucks each ....
As advertised it’s hogwash. No matter how elegant the mathematics, the many-worlds ‘interpretation’ of quantum mechanics is utterly unnecessary. It’s all just an attempt to force the wierdness of quantum mechanics into a mentality formed by classical mechanics.
I’d have to read the paper, but it seems quite implausible that any interpretation of QM adds predictive capacity so as to be experimentally distinguishable from any other interpretation.
Well now, maybe he did - "Calleth a thing that is not as though it were..." and it will be
which is the Law of Manifesting - which is believing what you 'call for' already exists and you can 'gather' it out of the Zero Point Field which is - the causal power in the Universe which is = the Force = all of which is= Quantum physics...
which all means, this knowledge ain't new. We just don't listen to good
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