{"id":12097,"date":"2022-05-03T05:00:28","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T03:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=118695"},"modified":"2022-05-03T05:41:23","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T03:41:23","slug":"doctor-strange-could-we-really-be-living-in-a-multiverse","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/doctor-strange-could-we-really-be-living-in-a-multiverse\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Strange: Could we really be living in a multiverse?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Stephen Kelly\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 03 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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In a parallel universe, you are writing this article. You\u2019re probably doing a better job of it too. That\u2019s what the multiverse theory suggests, anyway. You will no doubt have heard of it, if not from science then certainly from science fiction.<\/p>\n

Star Trek<\/em>, Stranger Things<\/em>, Spider-Man: No Way Home<\/em><\/a> \u2013 TV and film is full of stories set around the idea that our world is but one of many alternative realities. However, with the release of the new Marvel film, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness<\/em>, the theory is set to achieve new heights of popularity.<\/p>\n

But what exactly is the multiverse? And is there any truth to the idea that in a different reality I\u2019m actually a rich, handsome Premier League footballer?<\/p>\n

The multiverse derives from the basic idea that beyond the grand sphere of our observable Universe are entirely different universes, distantly separated from ours. What characterises these universes is up for debate, but Richard Bower, professor of cosmology at Durham University, cites the work of fellow cosmologist Max Tegmark, who has theorised four levels of multiverse.<\/p>\n

The first, explains Bower, posits an infinite universe in which \u201cevery possibility that could happen would happen\u201d, including another copy of Earth. Level two, meanwhile, gives us multiverses where the basic laws of physics are the same, but fundamental constants differ. \u201cNewton\u2019s law of gravity would still weaken with distance,\u201d says Bower, \u201cbut maybe there are four spatial dimensions instead of three.\u201d<\/p>\n

Level four goes even further, presenting multiverses that have entirely different laws of physics. \u201cSo maybe there would be some sort of mathematics that we have no idea about,\u201d says Bower. \u201cIt could get weird.\u201d The trailers for the new Doctor Strange<\/em> movie suggest an embrace of these weirder versions of the multiverse, with one shot showing him trapped in some sort of cuboid dimension.<\/p>\n

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Elizabeth Olson as Wanda Maximoff in Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness<\/em> \u00a9 Disney<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

But of course, the most popular iteration of the multiverse is level three, the \u2018many worlds\u2019 interpretation<\/a> of quantum mechanics<\/a>. It states that every choice causes a split in the Universe, leading to infinite parallel realities. In popular culture, it\u2019s the theory behind the multiple Spider-Men in Spider-Man: No Way Home<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many versions of you but you\u2019re only aware of one of those versions,\u201d explains Bower, who cites the famous Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s cat experiment. \u201cYou\u2019re seeing a cat that\u2019s either alive or dead, and you\u2019re incapable of realising that there\u2019s a version of you where the cat is alive. You\u2019re just conscious of the version where the cat is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of this has been proven, however. There are theories that if a neighbouring universe happened to collide with ours some time ago, it may have left behind proof in the form of cold or hot spots on the cosmic microwave background (electromagnetic radiation left over from the Big Bang<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Bower himself is optimistic that advances in quantum computing \u2013 which utilises properties of quantum mechanics like entanglement and superposition \u2013 could demonstrate the strength of the many worlds interpretation. But at the moment, all of this is hypothetical. In fact, many scientists believe the mystery of whether the multiverse is real to be a philosophical question rather than a scientific one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t totally agree with my colleagues on that, because a lot of them seem to think, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s a philosophical question, and therefore we can\u2019t try to address it scientifically\u2019,\u201d says Bower. \u201cNo, we just have to be more inventive about how we try to come up with ways to test it and new ways to interpret things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who knows, maybe in another universe someone has already figured it all out?<\/p>\n