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The Universe as We Understand It May Be Impossible
The Atlantic ^ | Natalie Wolchover and Quanta Magazine

Posted on 10/27/2022 1:59:46 PM PDT by nickcarraway

A new conjecture in physics challenges the leading “theory of everything.”

On June 25, Timm Wrase awoke in Vienna and groggily scrolled through an online repository of newly posted physics papers. One title startled him into full consciousness.

The paper, by the prominent string theorist Cumrun Vafa of Harvard and his collaborators, conjectured a simple formula dictating which kinds of universes are allowed to exist and which are forbidden, according to string theory. The leading candidate for a “theory of everything” weaving the force of gravity together with quantum physics, string theory defines all matter and forces as vibrations of tiny strands of energy. The theory permits some 10500 different solutions: a vast, varied “landscape” of possible universes.* String theorists like Wrase and Vafa have strived for years to place our particular universe somewhere in this landscape of possibilities.

But now, Vafa and his colleagues were conjecturing that in the string landscape, universes like ours—or what ours is thought to be like—don’t exist. If the conjecture is correct, Wrase and other string theorists immediately realized, the cosmos must either be profoundly different than previously supposed or string theory must be wrong.

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: astronomy; cumrunvafa; fauxiantroll; fauxiantrolls; mtheory; physics; quantummechanics; science; stringtheory; youngearthdelusion; youngearthdelusions
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1 posted on 10/27/2022 1:59:46 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway
If the universe is impossible as we understand it, perhaps we need to change our understanding of it.

As Mattias Desmet said, "science adapts its theories to reality, but ideology adapts reality to its theories."

Must be time to rethink our theories.

2 posted on 10/27/2022 2:04:12 PM PDT by RoosterRedux (Our government is like a bunch of fleas discussing how they are going to manage their dog.)
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To: nickcarraway
If the conjecture is correct, Wrase and other string theorists immediately realized, the cosmos must either be profoundly different than previously supposed or string theory must be wrong.

In fact all three could be true.

The conjecture could be false, the cosmos could be very different then we suppose and string theory could be wrong.

Considering all of this is what science is actually is all about.

3 posted on 10/27/2022 2:04:29 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (The nation of france was named after a hedgehog... The hedgehog's name was Kevin... Don't ask)
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To: nickcarraway

Deut. 29:29: The secret things belong to God...


4 posted on 10/27/2022 2:06:50 PM PDT by Fungi
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To: nickcarraway

They tie themselves into pretzels to deny God.


5 posted on 10/27/2022 2:09:45 PM PDT by fwdude (Society has been fully polarized now, and you have to decide on which pole you want to be found.)
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To: Fungi

I don’t think that was intended to be Gnostic.


6 posted on 10/27/2022 2:09:47 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

bump


7 posted on 10/27/2022 2:10:56 PM PDT by Az Joe (Biden & ChiComs are the enemy, not Putin.)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear
Considering all of this is what science is actually is all about.

I thought The Hokey Pokey was what it's all about.

8 posted on 10/27/2022 2:10:58 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: nickcarraway

The Universe Is Not Locally Real, and the Physics Nobel Prize Winners Proved It

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-universe-is-not-locally-real-and-the-physics-nobel-prize-winners-proved-it/?amp=true

Since the universe is not real, how could it not be possible?


9 posted on 10/27/2022 2:12:22 PM PDT by seowulf (Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos...Will Durant)
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To: nickcarraway

This is where “Impossible Burgers” come from.


10 posted on 10/27/2022 2:13:24 PM PDT by glorgau
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To: nickcarraway

That’s OK, we’ve got the climate all figured out.


11 posted on 10/27/2022 2:15:44 PM PDT by SaxxonWoods (The only way to secure your own future is to create it yourself.)
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To: nickcarraway

Check in with God, he made the place. Universe as we know of it, sure as hell isn’t some random event, that popped out of nowhere.
Where did all the Hydrogen come from?


12 posted on 10/27/2022 2:16:34 PM PDT by rellic
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I believe the answer is 42


13 posted on 10/27/2022 2:17:54 PM PDT by pricilla (one should always try to be smarter than the equipment one is operating - Amajato)
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To: pricilla

So Long and Thanks For All The Fish!


14 posted on 10/27/2022 2:18:32 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: nickcarraway

Right answer. Wrong universe.


15 posted on 10/27/2022 2:19:04 PM PDT by JusPasenThru (Broken hearts are for…well…you know…)
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To: nickcarraway

You are a fluke of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not,
The universe is laughing behind your back.


16 posted on 10/27/2022 2:19:55 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: nickcarraway
What they call "impossible" means they don't know how to interpret the results at present.

One of the first crises of this sort was when the Pythagoreans realized that the the square root of 2 is irrational. It was so earthshaking that this finding was kept hidden and secret for many years. Today, irrational numbers are not a bother.

Another "impossible" situation was the square root of -1. Today we have an interpretation of that, and all electrical engineers are quite comfortable using the square root of -1, as part of an "imaginary number". In reality these numbers are not "imaginary" at all, but offer a way of describing the reality of electrical circuits.

I'm sure that someday the "string theorists" will find a plausible interpretation of their results.

17 posted on 10/27/2022 2:21:26 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie (LORD, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.)
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To: nickcarraway

How do they know it is smooth and flat?


18 posted on 10/27/2022 2:22:31 PM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: seowulf

If something has absolutely no effect on anything, then in what sense does it exist, as far as anything else is concerned? The matter seems intuitive to me.


19 posted on 10/27/2022 2:23:09 PM PDT by rightwingcrazy (;-,)
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To: nickcarraway

Or possibly, just possibly, they are wrong


20 posted on 10/27/2022 2:24:46 PM PDT by BRL
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