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.
It’s meaning inflation. This is the worst period of meaning inflation since the Carter Admin. Actually the worst in recorded history. Actually the worst since the beginning of all time.
Except in that universe, I decided not to bother posting...
>There is a thread exactly like this in a parallel universe.
<
I’ll respond to that one...
....... which postulates that parallel universes DO NOT exist!!! /heheheheee
Oh please, spare me the hyperbole.
No one has discovered anything, much less parallel universes. Someone has merely proposed a mathematical model to account for a result predicted by another mathematical model. Unfortunately, some scientists think their mathematics is more real than the real world.
And if the Feds would only grant us $100 billion of taxpayer money, we'd be all set.
Oh, BTW, these parallel universes only exist because of "global warming".
So I guess the problem now is how to insert an ensemble of states (i.e. instrumentation) into another space-time branch unobtrusively to collect data on other universes, and return to ours.
According to this theory, a universe must exist, several, in fact, where Helen Thomas is considered a hottie. For that reason alone, the theory must be rejected as implausible.
Better let Art Bell know about this...
It’s all but inevitable. All universes except 1/googleplex percent of them are screwed up.
“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.””
And in another universe it won’t.
This is very exiting.
Thanks for the post.
Now if we could only figure out how this universe worked it would be a whole lot easier to figure out how that there parallel thingy worked.
You mean, those young ladies I could have but didn’t....when I was young...Dang! Any word on “parallel universe travel”? On second thought...nevermind.
If this theory is correct, we would have to imagine a universe where the Clintons are honest. That is not scientifically possible. Therefore, I do not believe the parallel universe theory.
That really Stunes my Beeber!
where is ockham’s razor when you need it?
In a parallel universe it might even be considered exciting, as well as hugh and series ......
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