Many of you may have heard the term ‘Multiverse’ over the last couple of years. And if any of you have spent any amount of time surfing the History or Discovery channel lately you may have been exposed to the ‘Multiverse Theory’ there as well. If you have not, then stick around. I will attempt to explain to you what that theory or idea is as well as to shed some light on what scientists have recently discovered. Because if what they theorize is indeed true, and what they found indeed really there, then the way of life as we know it may be in for a real shock!
So on that note, we bring you the theory of the Multiverse. In many ways the theory is exactly what it sounds like. Multi meaning many, obviously, and verse from universe. But in more common terms you may better understand the idea as multiple dimensions. The idea of multiple dimensions has been around for years. Both in Hollywood and many science fiction stories. The idea states that you have the dimension that we all live in and are familiar with, but then right next to you without you even being able to see it, hear it or touch it, is another dimension much like our own except for a few major differences. For example, in one dimension you are you. And everything is as you see it today. In the next dimension everything is exactly like your known dimension except you have four arms! And the idea is that there are an unlimited number of these dimensions, all slightly different in certain ways. Now this takes a bit of the sci-fi approach, but the idea is somewhat similar. Multiple dimensions, multiple universes. Each the same, yet different.
Now of course nobody knows what any other universe may hold, so everyone is allowed to guess and make up their own mental images. However.. here is what we do know. Or at least, what some scientists are trying to figure out and prove. The term ‘Multiverse’ was coined in the year 1895 by the American philosopher and psychologist William James. Sometimes called ‘Parallel Universes’ or ‘Parallel Dimensions’, the various universes that are said to make up the ‘Multiverse’ consist of a set of universes that together comprise everything that exists. The entirety of space, time, matter, energy and all the physical laws and constants that describe and define them.
Recently while on the journey of research and discovery about the Big-Bang and Pre Big-Bang science, a team of scientists from the UK, Canada and the U.S. revealed that they may have discovered something. What they discovered may seem like nothing to the average citizen, but to those in the science world or their circle of peers actually turns out to be a big deal. They found four statistically unlikely circular patterns in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) that could resemble ‘Bruises” incurred by our universe as it collided with other universes. Now how is this significant? Let me explain in a bit more depth about where this all stems from.
The CMB or Cosmic Microwave Background is background radiation that exists everywhere in the universe and they believe it has been there since our universe was a baby. Only 300,000 years old. As such, scientists can use information found in this background radiation to explain many different things. One of these things is the various temperature fluctuations that occur in the universe. Scientists are now using the information on these fluctuations to prove the Big-Bang theory. Showing how the temperature either fluctuates randomly or in a uniform manner helps to explain cosmic inflation and therefore the beginning of the universe from a single point into what it is now, and as such the result of a ‘Big-Bang’.
Now, that all being said, these four circular patterns found in the CMB are thought to be collisions, or those ‘bruises’ mentioned earlier and are brought on by other ‘Bubble’ universes colliding with our own. This is because the temperature fluctuations that have so much to do with the Big-Bang also bring about an idea that the inflation or dramatic growth spurts cause universes to form a sort of bubble or balloon or some other irregular circular shape. And these sometimes have a tendency to collide with one another. And when they do, they create a ‘Big-Bang’ which in turn creates another universe and shows the results of that birth as the patterns that the science team had found.
So essentially you have multiple universes out there. These universes are separated by a very thin margin. And as of yet, no one knows what this separation is or what it is made of or if it even exists. Remember this is all theory so far. But these universes are all separated and when they get too close, they collide and you have an explosion on the scale of what has never been seen before. Much like what the Big-Bang is thought to be. When this explosion happens you have the creation of another universe as everything expands at a very fast rate from the point of the collision. This continues at an endless rate until this universe then collides with another, thus helping to create yet another universe. And this is where we are right now. We are living inside one of these universes of which there are many. And of course the sizes and scale of what we are talking about is just un-imaginable. But this is the so-called Multiverse.
This search for the explanation of our existence has gone on since the beginning of man. Much in different ways, considering the technological and philosophical level of society. But it has existed since our first thoughts and will continue to exist until we either figure out the answer or perish from this existence. But a few scientists have what they think is an explanation of how it all started and they think they have evidence of that fact. Whether they do or not we may never know. For all we know their theory about the multiverse may be the farthest thing from reality. But I give them credit for trying. This is what we must continue to do. We must continue to look for the answers in the face of adversity and regardless of criticism. It is only those who will ask questions that will ever get any answers!