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From my archives in the Neo Library of Alexandria, I have an unpublished manuscript for writing an eBook on The multiverse (or meta-universe). As the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes (including the historical universe we consistently experience) that together comprise everything that exists and can exist: the account is from a pragmatic perception as the entirety of space, time, matter, and energy as well as the physical laws and constants that describe them. The various universes within the multiverse are sometimes called parallel universes. Previously, critical discussions about the multiverse hinged on the founding of the Metaphysical Club.
The Metaphysical Club
The Metaphysical Club was a conversational philosophical club that the Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., the philosopher and psychologist William James, and the philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce formed in January 1872 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and dissolved in December 1872.
Despite the name, these academic philosophical discussion groups pursued critical thinking of a pragmatist and positivist nature and rejected traditional European metaphysics. As an esoteric scientist; I learned of only two individuals who have mentioned the club: Henry James, the great novelist and brother of William James and Charles Peirce
^ Peirce, C. S. (1929), "The Founding of Pragmatism", The Hound and Horn: A Harvard Miscellany v. II, n. 3, April-June, pp. 282–5 (see 283–4). Reprinted as "Historical Affinities and Genesis" in Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, v. 5, paragraphs 11–13 (see 12–13), dated by the editors as circa 1906. Also see Shook, John R. (undated), "The Metaphysical Club
" at the Pragmatism Cybrary. Includes an account of the Club and individualized accounts of Chauncey Wright, Nicholas St. John Green, Charles Sanders Peirce, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., William James, and Joseph Bangs Warner, along with bibliographies, complete ones in the cases of Wright and Green.
Most of critical discussion probably centered on the structure of the multiverse, and as to its nature for each universe within it and the relationship between the various constituent universes, which are dependent on the specific multiverse hypothesis.
Similar to nested bubbles or bubbles within bubbles as hollow spheres are these bubbles as multiple universes which have been hypothesized in cosmology, physics, astronomy, religion, philosophy, transpersonal psychology and fiction, particularly in science fiction and fantasy. In these contexts, parallel universes are also called "alternative universes", "quantum universes", "interpenetrating dimensions", "parallel dimensions", "parallel worlds", "alternative realities", "alternative timelines", and "dimensional planes," among others.
Tegmark's classification
Nonetheless, cosmologist Max Tegmark provided a taxonomy of universes beyond the familiar observable universe. The levels according to Tegmark's classification are arranged such that subsequent levels can be understood to encompass and expand upon previous levels, and they are briefly described below.
Spheres As Nested Bubbles: Multiverses As Nested Universes
A bubble is made of transparent water enclosing transparent air. However the soap film is as thin as the visible light wavelength, resulting in interferences. This creates iridescence which, together with the bubble spherical shape is a Hubble volume, or Hubble sphere, which is a spherical region of the Universe surrounding an observer beyond which objects recede from that observer at a rate greater than the speed of light due to the expansion of the Universe.
The co-moving radius of a Hubble sphere (known as the Hubble radius or the Hubble length) is c/H_0, where c is the speed of light and H_0 is the Hubble constant. The surface of a Hubble sphere is called the micro-physical horizon, the Hubble surface, or the Hubble limit.
More generally, the term "Hubble volume" can be applied to any region of space with a volume of order (c/H_0)^3. However, the term is also frequently (but mistakenly) used as a synonym for the observable universe; the latter is larger than the Hubble volume
Level I: Beyond our cosmological horizon
A generic prediction of chaotic inflation is an infinite ergodic universe, which, being infinite, must contain Hubble volumes realizing all initial conditions.
Accordingly, an infinite universe will contain an infinite number of Hubble volumes, all having the same physical laws and physical constants. In regard to configurations such as the distribution of matter, almost all will differ from our Hubble volume. However, because there are infinitely many, far beyond the cosmological horizon, there will eventually be Hubble volumes with similar, and even identical, configurations. Tegmark estimates that an identical volume to ours should be about 1010115 meters away from us. Given infinite space, there would, in fact, be an infinite number of Hubble volumes identical to ours in the universe. This follows directly from the cosmological principle, wherein it is assumed our Hubble volume is not special or unique.
Level II: Universes with different physical constants
"Bubble universes": every disk is a bubble universe (Universe 1 to Universe 6 are different bubbles; they have physical constants that are different from our universe); our universe is just one of the bubbles.
In the chaotic inflation theory, a variant of the cosmic inflation theory, the multiverse as a whole is stretching and will continue doing so forever, but some regions of space stop stretching and form distinct bubbles, like gas pockets in a loaf of rising bread. Such bubbles are embryonic level I multiverses. Linde and Vanchurin calculated the number of these universes to be on the scale of 101010,000,000.
Different bubbles may experience different spontaneous symmetry breaking resulting in different properties such as different physical constants.
This level also includes John Archibald Wheeler's oscillatory universe theory and Lee Smolin's fecund universes theory (future blogs)
Level III: Many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics
Hugh Everett's many-worlds interpretation (MWI) is one of several mainstream interpretations of quantum mechanics. In brief, one aspect of quantum mechanics is that certain observations cannot be predicted absolutely. Instead, there is a range of possible observations, each with a different probability. According to the MWI, each of these possible observations corresponds to a different universe.
Tegmark argues that a level III multiverse does not contain more possibilities in the Hubble volume than a level I-II multiverse. In effect, all the different "worlds" created by "splits" in a level III multiverse with the same physical constants can be found in some Hubble volume in a level I multiverse. Tegmark writes that
"The only difference between Level I and Level III is where your doppelgängers reside. In Level I they live elsewhere in good old three-dimensional space. In Level III they live on another quantum branch in infinite-dimensional Hilbert space." Similarly, all level II bubble universes with different physical constants can in effect be found as "worlds" created by "splits" at the moment of spontaneous symmetry breaking in a level III multiverse.
NOTE: Related to the many-worlds idea are Richard Feynman's multiple histories interpretation and H. Dieter Zeh's many-minds interpretation.
Level IV: Ultimate Ensemble
The Ultimate Ensemble is the hypothesis of Tegmark himself. This level considers equally real all universes that can be described by different mathematical structures. Tegmark writes that
"abstract mathematics is so general that any Theory Of Everything (TOE) that is definable in purely formal terms (independent of vague human terminology) is also a mathematical structure. For instance, a TOE involving a set of different types of entities (denoted by words, say) and relations between them (denoted by additional words) is nothing but what mathematicians call a set-theoretical model, and one can generally find a formal system that it is a model of." He argues this "implies that any conceivable parallel universe theory can be described at Level IV" and "subsumes all other ensembles, therefore brings closure to the hierarchy of multiverses, and there cannot be say a Level V."
Jürgen Schmidhuber, however, says the "set of mathematical structures" is not even well-defined, and admits only universe representations describable by constructive mathematics, that is, computer programs. He explicitly includes universe representations describable by non-halting programs whose output bits converge after finite time, although the convergence time itself may not be predictable by a halting program, due to Kurt Gödel's limitations. He also explicitly discusses the more restricted ensemble of quickly computable universes.
Cyclic theories
In several theories there is a series of infinite, self-sustaining cycles (for example: an eternity of Big Bang-Big crunches).
M-theory
See also: Introduction to M-theory, M-theory, Brane cosmology, and String theory landscape
A multiverse of a somewhat different kind has been envisaged within the multi-dimensional extension of string theory known as M-theory, also known as Membrane Theory. In M-theory our universe and others are created by collisions between p-branes in a space with 11 and 26 dimensions (the number of dimensions depends on the chirality of the observer); each universe takes the form of a D-brane. Objects in each universe are essentially confined to the D-brane of their universe, but may be able to interact with other universes via gravity, a force which is not restricted to D-branes. This is unlike the universes in the "quantum multiverse", but both concepts can operate at the same time.
Anthropic principle
The concept of other universes has been proposed to explain how our Universe appears to be fine-tuned for conscious life as we experience it. If there were a large (possibly infinite) number of universes, each with possibly different physical laws (or different fundamental physical constants), some of these universes, even if very few, would have the combination of laws and fundamental parameters that are suitable for the development of matter, astronomical structures, elemental diversity, stars, and planets that can exist long enough for life to emerge and evolve.
The weak anthropic principle could then be applied to conclude that we (as conscious beings) would only exist in one those few universes that happened to be finely tuned, permitting the existence of life with developed consciousness. Thus, while the probability might be extremely small that any particular universe would have the requisite conditions for life (as we understand life) to emerge and evolve, this does not require intelligent design per the teleological argument as the only explanation for the conditions in the Universe that promote our existence in it.
In agreement with George Ellis' synopsis
"I think the contemplation of the multiverse is an excellent opportunity to reflect on the nature of science and on the ultimate nature of existence: why we are here… In looking at this concept, we need an open mind, though not too open. It is a delicate path to tread. Parallel universes may or may not exist; the case is unproved. We are going to have to live with that uncertainty. Nothing is wrong with scientifically based philosophical speculation, which is what multiverse proposals are. But we should name it for what it is."
— George Ellis, Scientific American, Does the Multiverse Really Exist?
Dark Era and Photon Age
From 10100 years and beyond
The lonely photon is now king of the universe as the last of the supermassive black holes evaporates. It is the embodiement for the design of the apparatus and the applications of the PyramiTroniX Resonator -- a pyramid mind machine for accelerating the law of attraction.
In previous blogs I have ventured in metaphysics and physics and that an integration would need to be done. Accordingly, photons, neutrinos, electrons, and positrons will fly from place to place, hardly ever encountering each other. Gravitationally, the universe will be dominated by dark matter, electrons, and positrons (not photons). It seems plausible that electrons and positrons drifting through space will encounter one another and occasionally form positronium atoms. These structures are unstable, however, and their constituent particles must eventually annihilate. Further, other low-level annihilation events will also take place, albeit very slowly.
Therefore, the universe now reaches an extremely low-energy state. What happens after this is speculative. It is possible that a Big Rip event may occur far off into the future. Also, the universe may enter a second inflationary epoch, or, assuming that the current vacuum state is a false vacuum, the vacuum may decay into a lower-energy state. Finally, the universe may settle into this state forever, achieving true heat death. Presumably, extreme low-energy states imply that localized quantum events become major macroscopic phenomena rather than negligible microscopic events because the smallest perturbations make the biggest difference in this era, so there is no telling what may happen to space or time. It is perceived that the laws of "macro-physics" will break down, and the laws of "quantum-physics" will prevail.
101500 years from now
In 101500 years, cold fusion occurring via quantum tunnelling should make the light nuclei in ordinary matter fuse into iron-56 nuclei (see isotopes of iron.) Fission and alpha-particle emission should make heavy nuclei also decay to iron, leaving stellar-mass objects as cold spheres of iron, called iron stars.
Collapse of iron star to black hole
10^{10^{26}} to 10^{10^{76}} years from now
Quantum tunnelling should also turn large objects into black holes. Depending on the assumptions made, the time this takes to happen can be calculated as from 10^{10^{26}} years to 10^{10^{76}} years. (To calculate the value of such numbers, see tetration.) Quantum tunnelling may also make iron stars collapse into neutron stars in around 10^{10^{76}} years.
On smaller scale is this video
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613102442.htm
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