Fringe

Are Parallel Universes Real? Farnsworth: “There is it. The edge of the Universe!” Fry: “Far out. So there’s an infinite number of parallel Universes?” Farnsworth: “No, just the two.” Fry: “Oh, well, I’m sure that’s enough.” Our existence here in this Universe is something that we know is rare, special, beautiful, and full of wonder. Image credit: Kelly Montgomery. Some things happen with amazing regularity and predictability: the occurrence of days-and-nights, the tides, the seasons, the motion of the heavenly bodies, and so much more. And yet, it’s not an entirely predictive system! But then quantum physics came along. Image credit: © Copyright CSIRO Australia 2004, via And it turns out that knowing the positions and momenta of particles — even of every particle in the Universe — isn’t enough to determine the properties of that particle in the future. Image credit: Robert Austin and Lyman Page / Princeton University. Image credit: NASA, ESA, R. “So what,” you might scoff! Easy there.

Parallel universes make quantum sense - space - 21 September 2007 Read an interview with Eels singer Mark Everett, son of Hugh Everett If you think of yourself as unique, think again. The days when physicists could ignore the concept of parallel universes may have come to an end. If that doesn't send a shudder down your spine, think of it this way: our world is just one of many. You are just one version of many. David Deutsch at the University of Oxford and colleagues have shown that key equations of quantum mechanics arise from the mathematics of parallel universes. The "many worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics was proposed 50 ...

When the multiverse and many-worlds collide - physics-math - 01 June 2011 Read full article Continue reading page |1|2 Editorial: "God deserves a cosmological explanation" TWO of the strangest ideas in modern physics - that the cosmos constantly splits into parallel universes in which every conceivable outcome of every event happens, and the notion that our universe is part of a larger multiverse - have been unified into a single theory. This solves a bizarre but fundamental problem in cosmology and has set physics circles buzzing with excitement, as well as some bewilderment. The problem is the observability of our universe. Cosmologists reconcile this seeming contradiction by assuming that the superposition eventually "collapses" to a single state. This problem is captured in the famous thought experiment of Schrödinger's cat. Physicists call this process "decoherence". In the case of something as large as a cat, that may be possible in Schrödinger's theoretical sealed box. More From New Scientist Iron Age CSI finds gold thieves died in the act (New Scientist)

First glimpse of big bang ripples from universe's birth - physics-math - 17 March 2014 Read full article Continue reading page |1|2 (Image: Steffen Richter/Harvard) Waves in the very fabric of the cosmos are allowing us to peer further back in time than anyone thought possible, showing us what was happening in the first slivers of a second after the big bang. The waves in question are called gravitational waves and are produced when a massive object accelerates through the fabric of space-time, causing ripples. Today, scientists working with the BICEP2 collaboration at the south pole announced the first clear sign of gravitational waves, found in maps of the earliest light emitted after the big bang. The team has spent three years ruling out alternate explanations, such as dust in our own galaxy, distortions caused by the gravity of more distant galaxies and errors introduced by the telescope itself. Nobel-prize material "It is absolutely mind-boggling that we've actually found it," says team member Clement Pryke at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Swirling signal