The Multiverse Hypothesis Explained by Brian Cox

The multiverse hypothesis has been gaining ground over the recent years in public discourse. Some even regard the multiverse concept as a valid scientific theory rather than a hypothesis. Brian Cox explains that the multiverse does not only belong in the realm of science fiction. However the lack of physical evidence for the multiverse has accumulated much criticism and some worry it could damage trust of physical sciences in public opinion.

Brian Cox also explains inflationary theory and how it could provide indication that the multiverse exists.
Some scientists are now suggesting that the Big Bang is just one moment in an eternal cycle of cosmic creation and dissolution. Scientists are working on different theories to try and explain how the universe could have come into existence.

The multiverse idea has arisen in many versions, primarily in cosmology, quantum mechanics, and philosophy, and often asserts the actual physical existence of different potential configurations or histories of the known observable universe.

Many modern physicists think about a multiverse in the context of the “many worlds” theory of quantum mechanics. According to this theory, when a particle is measured, it can result in either just one outcome or multiple outcomes. The universe splits into different universes in one of the outcomes. Each being a separate reality. According to Brian Cox, the theory could also answer the question as to why our universe seem to be fine tuned for life.

Multiverse theories have been widely criticized as speculation or philosophy rather than science, which again, is indeed a legitimate concern. Multiverse defenders however, contend that a description of the observable universe as one part of a multiverse can be much simpler than a description of the observable universe as the only universe at all.

#bigbang #ProfBrianCox #science

Exploring Primordial Black Holes from the Multiverse with Optical Telescopes
Alexander Kusenko, Misao Sasaki, Sunao Sugiyama, Masahiro Takada, Volodymyr Takhistov, and Edoardo Vitagliano
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 181304 – Published 30 October 2020

In Class with Brian Cox - The Royal Institution of Australia
16.3K subscribers

[Sambaboy]

"we are like a single molecule in a single cell in a whale's body trying to describe the whale" My geology professor explaining to me what "Science" is, 1973 (yes we might have been stoned)

[φαρμακεία-πρωταρχικός]

“The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.”-Aristotle

[garrybessant]

I'm a complete leyman, my education ended in high school but in later life (50 now) I have become fascinated by science. These videos are so enjoyable and create more questions than answers. What if the creation of dark energy and/or matter directly relate to black holes? Is it a coincidence that we cannot perceive black holes and therefore what happens beyond the event horizon and the existence of dark matter and dark energy. Could they be linked? Could black holes be drawing in 'real' matter and energy, then spewing out dark matter and energy and this is why we see the visible universe increasingly expanding?

[BronzDano]

Brian Cox has such a pleasant voice and way of explaining complex idea is a very accessible way.

[scorp]

I think this is the first time I have actually heard a narrative express the opinion on wanting to understand how the universe was started, implying that the universe had a start. What was there for all that eternity before its start, before the big bang? This concept is more mind boggling!

Only humans have a start and finish concept, birth to death, start to end of work, finite time in house or job, so I suspect having something that has an infinity or eternity concept is much harder to fathom for the human mind and therefore easier or feels more comfortable to dismiss such a concept!

Yet this is the most plausible of all theories or constructs, a concept or model of the universe as having no beginning and end, no-one entity to turn on the switch to get it going and no need to know who made the fire lighter.

Civilisations come and go, the earth, solar system or even the milky way galaxy might need to have a beginning but the universe certainly does not.

[rogeraformeratheist]

Another aspect of this was addressed by Dr. Stephen Meyer in his book, Return of the God Hypothesis. In Chapter 16, he points out that an inflationary-string multiverse (the only kind that skeptics can posit to seemingly account for the fine-tuning of our universe) – this multiverse itself must be extremely fine-tuned (in its universe-generating mechanism) in order to exist and to produce multiple universes, which are necessary in order to seemingly account for OUR universe’s fine-tuning as if it arose by random chance. However, this won’t work because the multiverse itself requires extreme fine-tuning to begin its production of universes! Therefore, whether it’s to account for the fine-tuning of our universe (Meyer, Chapters 7, 8, & 13) OR to account for the fine-tuning of a feasible multiverse (that could hypothetically account for the fine-tuning of our universe), an intelligent Fine-Tuner or Designer of at least one universe, and possibly of a multiverse, must exist! (Meyer, Chapter 16) In essence, a Creator God must exist; there are no realistic alternatives, as long as we precisely follow the details of this evidence. The only way to avoid this conclusion is to NOT follow the evidence where it leads, in terms of its details. This is one of several reasons why I, a former atheist, am now a believer in the Christian God, which makes the most sense considering all forms of evidence.

[totalfreedom]

*_1_* Science goes by facts, logic, and evidence.
*_2_* Arguments for the multiverse hypothesis: cosmic inflation, math constants, the observable universe
Arguments against the multiverse hypothesis: falsifiability, Occam’s razor, no evidence
*_3_* We see the observable universe; let’s keep finding more about it. We live on Mother Earth; let’s love her and take care of her by not destroying her for profit. We might reincarnate many times in many lives; let’s live our present life with fullness in the present moment.
*_4_* Without *_love_* life is meaningless. 💕 ☮ 🌎 🌌

[ibnorml]

Is it easier to accept a finite universe or an infinite universe?

[MICHAEL_MAY_]

The sheet merger mentioned at 5:20 is what I think actually happened. If spacetime is akin to fabric, then it makes sense that these "sheets" are independent from each other. This would account for the multiple dimensions that we can't see but are certain exist.

[jonathanjollimore]

Went I was younger I was part of a religious cult and spent a lot of time trying to figure what if anything made sense anymore. I started thinking about the universe how did it get here. Is it the only one maybe there infinite number of universes and infinite means anything that can happen will and dose happen over and over well for infinite pretty mind blowing concept I was 16 at the time. I was a confused angry teen who no clue what made sense anymore what was right or wrong or how I should live.

[andrewrogers]

Apply yourself to a multi-faceted existence, learn and connect to the multiverse the influence is quite powerful, profound, dominant and represents good and light, your psyche is key’- Andrew Rogers.

The multiverse is a group of multiple universes. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, sentient beings, spirits, spirit guides, gods, goddess and aliens, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. The different universes within the multiverse are called "parallel universes", "other universes", "alternate universes", or "many worlds".

[NCharlie]

"And what's outside that & what's outside that?" can be an argument in perpetual loop but suggesting only one 13.7 billion year old universe exists, is like saying we are the only living planet in an infinite cosmos, which is very silly... unless we're in a sim :/

[nongenericeric]

Brian Cox "This is the largest example of inflation that we know of." Joe Biden "Hold my...ahh...you know..."

[LNRLN]

I love studying metaphysics, and there was this post that kind of just broke my brain for a while that involved the multiverse hypothesis. I can't remember the quote they used, but it was along the lines of 'an artist births a new universe into existence similar to our own when they create art.' This person purposed the idea that it's actually the opposite; the artist is in a state of being that allows them to observe a similar universe to our own, and are creating art of what their mind has observed. So, by that logic, every painting, sculpture, book, movie, video game, and anything else considered art could potentially be a representation of another universe. Which, is both awesome to think about, but also absolutely terrifying.

[MrDarkwing]

I started working on this idea after considering the curious physics involved in Season 4 of Stranger Things (don't sue me, is it worse inspiration than an apple? 😄)

One question. Is the amount of Dark Matter in the universe stable, or is it increasing over time? The former makes sense, because matter can neither be created or destroyed, but does this hold for Dark Matter? The implications of a no here and that it is actually increasing in volume over time might actually support a multiverse theory, if you consider that instead of new universes separating like a cell, a universe with a certain frequency births 2 universes of slightly different frequencies, but they remain in the same location (kind of).

What do you need in order to create a parallel universe? Anything with a Higgs-Boson! This primarily means anything within a galaxy, galaxy cluster etc. which is also where we see the largest amounts of Dark Matter, albeit mostly in a halo around the galaxies. What if Dark Matter WAS the proof of the multiverse? What if Dark Matter is simply the gravitational bleed through from other universes, forced out of position by the Higgs-Boson's in our own Universe? (I've scraped that part together to explain the location of Dark Matter, and it's a stretch, I know) If that was the case, and new universes were being created all the time, then A) we should see the amount of DM increasing over times, (hopefully in pulses) and B) The ratio of DM to M should be consistent from one galaxy to the next.

A fun consequence of this may be that whilst there is the possibility of 2 identical universes, or more, they would be overlapped, so essentially there would still be only one. But what would happen if one of those actually had a different origin to another? What if there was one single difference between the two that, once resolved, allowed the two universes to merge? This may be the source of The Mandela Effect! (or someone just passed on some bad info that no-one checked for a while)

Hey, Stranger Things only wrapped up a few weeks ago, so don't lynch me, but any thoughts?

[wetbobspongepants]

If our universe is expanding, what is it expanding into?

[frankkolmann]

There is nothing strange about single photons creating a wave interference pattern. By definition a wave does not have a single position in spacetime. Wave/particle duality is a property of every single particle in the universe. The real question is, Why do particles exist at all? What causes particles to manifest from the quantum field, and once manifested what causes particles to remain stable. Each and every particle with mass holds a very large amount of energy. What exactly are magnetic fields? What exactly are electric fields? Why do magnetic and electric fields manifest as forces between charged particles? How exactly does the strong force overcome the protons electric positive charge of repulsion, but then the strong force is not so strong to fuse protons into a quark plasma?
Quantum by definition means bits. The mathematics of continuous functions by definition CANNOT be used to explain or define discrete quantum bits. Just as the pressure in a gas is only explained as a statistical property, quantum properties can only be described by our mathematical continuous functions as probabilities. Fluctuations in the electromagnetic and quantum fields can be described by mathematical continuous wave equations, BUT there is no mathematics that describes discrete quantum bits. What exists between the quantum bits? To then jump to absurd conclusions such as, many worlds infinitely created, multiple states existing simultaneously, bound states of independent particles, simply shows how inadequate is our mathematics of continuous functions when it comes to describing the quantum.

[SamiKotiranta]

It's mind blowing that we don't understand or even see the majority of what the reality we live in is made of...

[andybayes]

What happens when it all ends? Like literally nothing exists anymore. Could it then happen all over again? So i mean could space and everything ever totally end?

[iggswanna]

funny to think that Cox long term scientist colleague was Dr Janis Bowlls...
therefore effectively their team being comprised of Cox and Bowlls