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Neon Light is Loving His Life in Another World

Passing my time, writing whatever coming in mind. Not a big of a deal novel. So, It's about Neon Light, a boy died unknowingly then transmigrated to new world or isekaid. Don't expect much from him. He's just a regular guy with few words. He is pathetic in his own way. Read to discover his upcoming life, conspiracy & adventure in another world.

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STARZ LATEST SHOW COUNTERPART imagines that Earth can be copied — and science agrees.

What if there was another Earth? And on that Earth was another you? And that other you, despite being genetically identical, turned out to be quite different? That's the premise for the new STARZ series, Counterpart. It's a fun thought experiment that would be easy to pass off as science fiction, but it's not really a farfetched idea. For at least a hundred years, physicists, cosmologists, and philosophers have pondered the possibility that Earth and the people on it are far from unique. In fact, scientists today believe it's very likely there are infinite versions of our planet and ourselves out there somewhere.

CalTech theoretical physicist Sean Carroll is an expert on these theories — his book on the topic, Something Deeply Hidden, comes out in September. Carroll gave us a look at the real-life scientific theories that could give rise the different versions of Earth in Counterpart.

INFINITE UNIVERSE THEORY

Scientific Discipline: Cosmology

One of the major theories of cosmology — the study of space — is that the universe we live in might not have an endpoint, but instead goes on forever. Scientists theorize it's possible that if you flew a spaceship trying to reach the end of the universe, it would continue to fly past suns and moons and planets and black holes forever. Not everyone agrees with this idea.

The multiverse theory, advanced by other scientists and physicists, says the spaceship would eventually reach the end of our universe, and then transition into another universe — and then another and another and another, for an infinite amount of time.

If either of these theories is true, the infinite nature of space, combined with the limited way that particles can organize themselves to form matter (which planets and life forms are all made out of), leads to a shocking but inevitable truth: Earth as we know it probably repeats itself, over and over.

"In any one region of space there's a finite number of atoms and particles, and there's a finite size," says Carroll. "If you think about an infinite number of regions spread throughout the universe, everything that can possibly happen in any region will happen an infinite number of times."

That means it's entirely plausible that somewhere out in the infinite universe there's another Earth where you are sitting in front of another Internet reading this article. In fact, it is plausible that there are billions of you's on billions of Earths that are exactly the same or slightly different or vastly different. The math of infinity makes this repetition not only plausible, but certain.

Unfortunately, we can never know for sure if this theory is true, because it's impossible to observe it. The Earth replicas would be so far away that light coming from them would take longer to reach us then the current age of our universe. Add to that the fact that the universe is constantly expanding — meaning the Earth replicas are constantly getting further and further away — and not only could we never see them, we could also never travel to them even with the most advanced futuristic technology.

"In any scientifically respectable version of this there's no way you could visit, or that visitors could come here," says Carroll. That's because the fastest any interstellar traveler could move is the speed of light, and even at that pace no one would live long enough to get anywhere near another Earth. "Even to get to another galaxy would take thousands or millions of years," Carroll says. "To get outside our currently observable part of the universe would take tens of billions of years. To go far enough that you would run into a planet that had the same people on Earth would take an unimaginably huge, enormous amount of time."

MANY WORLDS THEORY

Scientific Discipline: Quantum Physics

The theory of Many Worlds is the most similar to the circumstances described in Counterpart, and it's also the most likely to be true, based on experimental evidence. It goes like this: When particles are teeny tiny (smaller than atoms) they act really, really weird. An electron, for example, is always spinning. When you observe it, you can see that it's spinning either clockwise or counterclockwise. But before you looked at that electron, when it wasn't being observed, it was very likely spinning in both directions. You may know this better as Schrödinger's cat, the theoretical parable that says if you have a cat in a box, the cat is both alive and dead until you open the box, at which point the cat must be one or the other but not both.

"Some people think that the act of looking at the electron made it spin clockwise. I think they're just wrong," says Carroll. Rather, the Many Worlds theory says that the act of observing the electron created a whole different outcome entirely: "By coming into contact with that electron you have split. Before there was only one of you, afterward there are two of you," he says. One of you is watching the electron move clockwise and the other version of you is watching it move counterclockwise. In either case, the electron is still moving in both directions.

The logical reaction to this is to wonder: Where do all the versions of our universe exist? And how many of them are there? Scientists are still trying to answer those questions. They are pondering what, exactly, causes the split to happen, what are the rules the guide it, and how do all possible versions of the universe manage to exist at once.

If the theory is true, one thing is for sure — the split into multiple versions of our world "has happened a bazillion times already in the history of the universe, branching and splitting into highly differentiated sub-universes," says Carroll.

The most interesting aspect of this theory is that, while the Infinite Universe theory that there are many Earths is only plausible, many physicists believe the Many Worlds theory is actually very likely. The view comes from the simple assumptions that the quantum wave function (the math behind the quantum world) describes all of physical reality, and that it always evolves according to the famous Schrödinger equation. "I think this theory is true. This is correct. More than 95 percent chance of being right. And that means there are many copies of you who are very similar, not exactly the same, but very similar," he says.

So how do we cross over between these versions of our universe to meet ourselves? Well, we don't. Unfortunately, there's no scientific theory in which physical travel between the two worlds would be possible, as it is in Counterpart. Some physicists have suggested that if we could somehow manage to change the rules of quantum mechanics, we may be able to build a device that allows us to communicate across the division. By altering how quantum objects behave, the independence between the different universes goes away and, as Carroll says, they would begin "jostling with each other," ultimately allowing them to somehow interact.

POSSIBLE WORLDS THEORY

Scientific Discipline: Philosophy

While the two previous theories are working areas of science that researchers are actively working on, there's another, third theory that's much more out-of-the-box. It comes from philosophy, which means it's more about logical analysis and rigorous thinking then hard science.

The Possible Worlds Theory was developed by a very well-respected philosopher named David Lewis, who suggested that all possible versions of the world all exist at once. Unlike in the Many Worlds theory, they don't rely on observation or any specific event to come into existence. They just all exist, always, infinitely. According to this theory, there could be another version of Earth where you're reading this article and you're actually a sentient banana. Any version of Earth you can imagine, and even versions you can't possibly imagine, exist. We just can't see them.

"Who says the world has matter, space and time, dimensions? Maybe another version of this world is nothing but colors," says Carroll. "The important distinction is there's zero connection between worlds. They just exist." And that means, in this philosophical version of Possible Worlds, there's no way to travel between them.

Each theory allows for its own level of connectivity between alternate worlds. "In the Infinite Universe they're far away, but connected to us by space," Carroll says. "In Many Worlds they come into existence by measuring the system.

"In Possible Worlds they're all there, but they don't talk to each other, they don't bump into each other, and you can't interact with them in any way," he explains. Of course, unlike physics and cosmology, philosophy doesn't need any math, or observation to back any of this theorizing up. "Honestly, I think it's kind of silly," says Carroll. "But it's a great thought experiment."

In the end, there's little that scientists can do to prove any one of these hypotheses—ultimately our wildest imaginings could be true. We'll never know for sure. The good news is you can actually follow one scenario of alternate Earth as it plays out in Counterpart on STARZ starting January 21st. Just remember that, as the Many Worlds theory is likely true, the very act of observing Counterpart means you'll be creating yet another Earth.

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Do parallel universes exist? We might live in a multiverse.

By Vicky Stein , Daisy Dobrijevic published November 03, 2021

Sci-fi loves parallel universes. But could we really be in one?

(opens in new tab)

Do parallel universes exist? Do we live in just one of many bubble universes? (Image credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)

Jump to:Eternal inflation & the Big Bang theory

Quantum mechanics

Infinite space

The mirror-image universe

Multiverse: For and against

Parallel universes in fiction

Parallel universes are no longer just a feature of a good sci-fi story. There are now some scientific theories that support the idea of parallel universes beyond our own. However, the multiverse theory remains one of the most controversial theories in science.

Our universe is unimaginably big. Hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of galaxies(opens in new tab) spin through space, each containing billions or trillions of stars(opens in new tab). Some researchers studying models of the universe speculate that the universe's diameter could be 7 billion light-years(opens in new tab) across. Others think it could be infinite.

But is it all that's out there? Science fiction loves the idea of a parallel universe, and the thought that we might be living just one of an infinite number of possible lives. Multiverses aren't reserved for "Star Trek," "Spiderman" and "Doctor Who," though. Real scientific theory explores, and in some cases supports, the case for universes outside, parallel to, or distant from but mirroring our own.

Multiverses and parallel worlds are often argued in the context of other major scientific concepts like the Big Bang(opens in new tab), string theory(opens in new tab) and quantum mechanics(opens in new tab).

Related: How big is the universe?(opens in new tab)

ETERNAL INFLATION, THE BIG BANG THEORY AND PARALLEL UNIVERSES

Around 13.7 billion years ago, everything we know of was an infinitesimal singularity. Then, according to the Big Bang theory, it burst into action, inflating faster than the speed of light in all directions for a tiny fraction of a second. Before 10^-32 seconds had passed, the universe had exploded outward to 10^26 times its original size in a process called cosmic inflation(opens in new tab). And that's all before the actual expansion of matter that we usually think of as the Big Bang itself, which was a consequence of all this inflation: As the inflation slowed, a flood of matter and radiation appeared, creating the classic Big Bang fireball, and began to form the atoms, molecules, stars and galaxies that populate the vastness of space that surrounds us.

Related: How an inflating universe could create a multiverse(opens in new tab)

That mysterious process of inflation and the Big Bang have convinced some researchers that multiple universes are possible, or even very likely. According to theoretical physicist Alexander Vilenkin of Tufts University in Massachusetts, inflation didn't end everywhere at the same time. While it ended for everything that we can detect from Earth 13.8 billion years ago, cosmic inflation in fact continues in other places. This is called the theory of eternal inflation. And as inflation ends in a particular place, a new bubble universe forms, Vilenkin wrote for Scientific American(opens in new tab) in 2011.

Those bubble universes can't contact each other because they continue to expand indefinitely. If we were to set off for the edge of our bubble, where it might butt up against the next bubble universe over, we'd never reach it because the edge is zipping away from us faster than the speed of light, and faster than we could ever travel.

Related: How many stars are in the universe?

But even if we could reach the next bubble, according to eternal inflation (combined with string theory), our familiar universe with its physical constants and habitable conditions could be totally different from the hypothetical bubble universe next to our own.

"This picture of the universe, or multiverse, as it is called, explains the long-standing mystery of why the constants of nature appear to be fine-tuned for the emergence of life," Vilenkin wrote. "The reason is that intelligent observers exist only in those rare bubbles in which, by pure chance, the constants happen to be just right for life to evolve. The rest of the multiverse remains barren, but no one is there to complain about that."

Vilenkin's explanation implies that in some of the infinite bubble universes outside our own, there could be other intelligent observers. But in every instant that passes, we get farther away from them, and we will never intersect.

QUANTUM MECHANICS AND PARALLEL UNIVERSES

Some researchers base their ideas of parallel universes on quantum mechanics, the mathematical description of subatomic particles. In quantum mechanics, multiple states of existence for tiny particles are all possible at the same time — a "wave function" encapsulates all of those possibilities. However, when we actually look, we only ever observe one of the possibilities. According to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics as described by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy(opens in new tab), we observe an outcome when the wave function "collapses" into a single reality.

But the many-worlds theory proposes instead that every time one state, or outcome, is observed, there is another "world" in which a different quantum outcome becomes reality. This is a branching arrangement, in which instant by instant, our perceived universe branches into near-infinite alternatives. Those alternate universes are completely separate and unable to intersect, so while there may be uncountable versions of you living a life that's slightly — or wildly — different from your life in this world, you'd never know it.

Related: Black holes, aliens, multiverse & Mars: Space TED talks you need to watch(opens in new tab)

The many-worlds theory is the most "courageous" take on the quandary of quantum mechanics, physicist Sean Carroll wrote in his book, "Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime(opens in new tab)" (Dutton, 2019). He also argued that it is the most straightforward theory, although not without wrinkles.

One of those wrinkles is that the many-worlds idea is not really falsifiable. This is an important component of scientific thought and is the way the scientific community develops ideas that can be explored with observation and experimentation. If there's no opportunity to find evidence against a theory, that's bad for science as a whole, science journalist John Horgan argued in a blog post for Scientific American(opens in new tab).

INFINITE SPACE, INFINITE UNIVERSES?

The Milky Way, pictured here as seen from Earth, is just one of hundreds of billions, maybe trillions, of galaxies in the universe. Each galaxy is made up of billions or trillions of stars, each of which could have planets. Could any of them be just like ours? (Image credit: Weerakarn Satitniramai via Getty Images)

(opens in new tab)Some physicists believe in a flatter version of multiple universes. That is, if the universe that we live in goes on forever, there are only so many ways that the building blocks of matter can arrange themselves as they assemble across infinite space. Eventually, any finite number of particle types must repeat a particular arrangement. Hypothetically, in a big enough space, those particles must repeat arrangements as large as entire solar systems(opens in new tab) and galaxies.

So, your entire life might be repeated elsewhere in the universe, down to what you ate for breakfast yesterday. At least, that's the theory.

But if the universe began at a finite point, as nearly every physicist agrees that it did, an alternate version of you likely doesn't exist, according to astrophysicist Ethan Siegel's 2015 Medium(opens in new tab) article.

According to Siegel, "the number of possible outcomes from particles in any Universe interacting with one another tends towards infinity faster than the number of possible Universes increases due to inflation."

"So what does this mean for you?" Siegel wrote. "It means it's up to you to make this Universe count."

THE MIRROR-IMAGE UNIVERSE

Some researchers suggest that on the opposite side of the Big Bang timeline, stretching backwards in time, a universe once existed that was the exact mirror image of our own. Here is an artists illustration of the history of the universe as presented by the WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) which spent nine years creating full-sky maps of cosmic microwave background. WMAP studied the light released about 375,000 years after the Big Bang, before stars and galaxies formed. (Image credit: NASA / WMAP Science Team)

(opens in new tab)In a relatively recent addition to the pantheon of multiverse theories, researchers from the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, have proposed that the universe began at the Big Bang — and on the opposite side of the Big Bang timeline, stretching backwards in time, a universe once existed that was the exact mirror image of our own.

"Instead of saying there was a different universe before the bang, we're saying that the universe before the bang is actually, in some sense, an image of the universe after the bang," Neil Turok, a Perimeter Institute researcher, told Space.com sister site Live Science(opens in new tab).

That means everything — protons, electrons, even actions like cracking an egg — would be reversed. Antiprotons and positively charged electrons would make up atoms, while eggs would un-crack and make their way back inside chickens. Eventually, that universe would shrink down, presumably to a singularity, before expanding out into our own universe.

Seen another way, both universes were created at the Big Bang and exploded simultaneously backward and forward in time.

MULTIVERSE: ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST

Arguments for the multiverse theory

Cosmic inflation

Our universe grew exponentially in the first moments of its existence, but was this expansion uniform? If not, it suggests different regions of space grew at different rates — and may be isolated from one another.

Mathematical constants

How are the laws of the universe so exact? Some propose that this happened only by chance — we are the one universe out of many that happened to get the numbers right.

The observable universe

What is beyond the edge of the observable space around us? No one knows for sure, and until we do (which could be never), the thought that ou universe extends indefinitely is an interesting one.

Arguments against the multiverse theory

Falsifiability

There is no way for us to ever test theories of the multiverse. We will never see beyond the observable universe, so if there is no way to disprove the theories, should they even be given credence?

Occam's razor

Sometimes, the simplest ideas are the best. Some physicists argue that we don't need the multiverse theory at all. It doesn't solve any paradoxes, and only creates complications.

No evidence

Not only can we not disprove any multiverse theory, we can't prove them either. We currently have no evidence that multiverses exists, and everything we can see suggests there is just one universe — our own.

PARALLEL UNIVERSES IN FICTION

The protagonist of Marvel's Doctor Strange (2016) has the power to jump into different dimensions. (Image credit: Marvel.com)

(opens in new tab)Countless works of myth and fiction draw from ideas of parallel universes and the multiverse. Overlapping worlds make appearances in Norse mythology as well as Buddhist and Hindu cosmology. The idea of multiple universes coming into contact showed up in print as early as Edwin A. Abbott's novella "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions" (Seeley & Co., 1884), and can still be seen in recent movies such as the 2016 Marvel film "Doctor Strange." An entire genre of Japanese graphic novels, called isekai, deals with characters transported to parallel worlds, as described by the New York Public Library(opens in new tab).

Nearly every "Star Trek" series incorporates some form of mirror universe, and the 2009 reboot film starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto took subsequent "Star Trek" movies into an entirely new timeline that explicitly branches off from the original series.

And comics, as well as their corresponding movies, delve deeply into the idea of parallel worlds. Recent Marvel Comics' storylines (both film and in print), DC's Flashpoint arc and 2018's "Into the Spider-Verse" all explore multiple universes and the intersections between them.

This is an incomplete list of some appearances of multiverses, split-timeline universes and parallel universes in fiction:

Movies

Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Terminator Genisys (2015)

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the Second Dimension (2011)

Star Trek (2009)

Donnie Darko (2001)

Run Lola Run (1998)

Sliding Doors (1998)

Back to the Future 1-3 (1985, 1989, 1990)

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

Television

Star Trek: Discovery, multiple episodes

Star Trek: Enterprise, multiple episodes

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, multiple episodes

Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Parallels" (Episode 11, Season 7) (1993)

Star Trek: The Original Series, "Mirror, Mirror", (Episode 4, Season 2) (1967)

Doctor Who, multiple episodes

Sliders, entire series

Community, "Remedial Chaos Theory" (Episode 4, Season 3) (2011)

Rick and Morty, multiple episodes

Futurama, multiple episodes

Eureka, multiple episodes

Agents of Shield, multiple episodes

"The Chronicles of Narnia" series (Geoffrey Bles, 1950-56) by C. S. Lewis

"His Dark Materials" series (Scholastic, 1995-2000) by Phillip Pullman

The "Discworld" series (HarperCollins, 1983-2015) by Terry Pratchett

"Men Like Gods" (Macmillan, 1923) by H. G. Wells

"The Dark Tower" series (Donald M. Grant, 1982-2012) by Stephen King

Video games

BioShock Infinite, 2013

Kingdom Hearts, 2002-2020

Chrono Cross, 1999

Half-Life, 1998-2020

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, 2004

Zero Escape, 2009-2016

This article was adapted in part from previous work by Space.com contributor Elizabeth Howell.

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Daisy Dobrijevic joined Space.com in February 2022 as a reference writer having previously worked for our sister publication All About Space magazine as a staff writer. Before joining us, Daisy completed an editorial internship with the BBC Sky at Night Magazine and worked at the National Space Centre in Leicester, U.K., where she enjoyed communicating space science to the public. In 2021, Daisy completed a PhD in plant physiology and also holds a Master's in Environmental Science, she is currently based in Nottingham, U.K.

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Physics Articles

The Theory of Parallel Universes

By: Andrew Zimmerman Jones and Daniel Robbins

Updated: 03-27-2016

String Theory For Dummies

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The multiverse is a theory in which our universe is not the only one, but states that many universes exist parallel to each other. These distinct universes within the multiverse theory are called parallel universes. A variety of different theories lend themselves to a multiverse viewpoint.

Not all physicists really believe that these universes exist. Even fewer believe that it would ever be possible to contact these parallel universes.

Level 1: If you go far enough, you'll get back home

The idea of Level 1 parallel universes basically says that space is so big that the rules of probability imply that surely, somewhere else out there, are other planets exactly like Earth. In fact, an infinite universe would have infinitely many planets, and on some of them, the events that play out would be virtually identical to those on our own Earth.

We don't see these other universes because our cosmic vision is limited by the speed of light — the ultimate speed limit. Light started traveling at the moment of the big bang, about 14 billion years ago, and so we can't see any further than about 14 billion light-years (a bit farther, since space is expanding). This volume of space is called the Hubble volume and represents our observable universe.

The existence of Level 1 parallel universes depends on two assumptions:

The universe is infinite (or virtually so).

Within an infinite universe, every single possible configuration of particles in a Hubble volume takes place multiple times.

If Level 1 parallel universes do exist, reaching one is virtually (but not entirely) impossible. For one thing, we wouldn't know where to look for one because, by definition, a Level 1 parallel universe is so far away that no message can ever get from us to them, or them to us. (Remember, we can only get messages from within our own Hubble volume.)

Level 2: If you go far enough, you'll fall into wonderland

In a Level 2 parallel universe, regions of space are continuing to undergo an inflation phase. Because of the continuing inflationary phase in these universes, space between us and the other universes is literally expanding faster than the speed of light — and they are, therefore, completely unreachable.

Two possible theories present reasons to believe that Level 2 parallel universes may exist: eternal inflation and ekpyrotic theory.

In eternal inflation, recall that the quantum fluctuations in the early universe's vacuum energy caused bubble universes to be created all over the place, expanding through their inflation stages at different rates. The initial condition of these universes is assumed to be at a maximum energy level, although at least one variant, chaotic inflation, predicts that the initial condition can be chaotically chosen as any energy level, which may have no maximum, and the results will be the same.

The findings of eternal inflation mean that when inflation starts, it produces not just one universe, but an infinite number of universes.

Right now, the only noninflationary model that carries any kind of weight is the ekpyrotic model, which is so new that it's still highly speculative.

In the ekpyrotic theory picture, if the universe is the region that results when two branes collide, then the branes could actually collide in multiple locations. Consider flapping a sheet up and down rapidly onto the surface of a bed. The sheet doesn't touch the bed only in one location, but rather touches it in multiple locations. If the sheet were a brane, then each point of collision would create its own universe with its own initial conditions.

There's no reason to expect that branes collide in only one place, so the ekpyrotic theory makes it very probable that there are other universes in other locations, expanding even as you consider this possibility.

Level 3: If you stay where you are, you'll run into yourself

A Level 3 parallel universe is a consequence of the many worlds interpretation (MWI) from quantum physics in which every single quantum possibility inherent in the quantum wavefunction becomes a real possibility in some reality. When the average person (especially a science fiction fan) thinks of a "parallel universe," he's probably thinking of Level 3 parallel universes.

Level 3 parallel universes are different from the others posed because they take place in the same space and time as our own universe, but you still have no way to access them. You have never had and will never have contact with any Level 1 or Level 2 universe (we assume), but you're continually in contact with Level 3 universes — every moment of your life, every decision you make, is causing a split of your "now" self into an infinite number of future selves, all of which are unaware of each other.

Though we talk of the universe "splitting," this isn't precisely true. From a mathematical standpoint, there's only one wavefunction, and it evolves over time. The superpositions of different universes all coexist simultaneously in the same infinite-dimensional Hilbert space. These separate, coexisting universes interfere with each other, yielding the bizarre quantum behaviors.

Of the four types of universes, Level 3 parallel universes have the least to do with string theory directly.

Level 4: Somewhere over the rainbow, there's a magical land

A Level 4 parallel universe is the strangest place (and most controversial prediction) of all, because it would follow fundamentally different mathematical laws of nature than our universe. In short, any universe that physicists can get to work out on paper would exist, based on the mathematical democracy principle: Any universe that is mathematically possible has equal possibility of actually existing.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

String Theory For Dummies

About the book authors:

Andrew Zimmerman Jones received his physics degree and graduated with honors from Wabash College, where he earned the Harold Q. Fuller Prize in Physics. He is the Physics Guide for the New York Times' About.com Web site. Daniel Robbins received his PhD in physics from the University of Chicago and currently studies string theory and its implications at Texas A&M University.

This article can be found in the category:

Physics

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Try To Wrap Your Mind Around 10 Terms That Circle Around The Multiverse

Published May 4, 2022

If you're one of the many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you'll know that Dr. Strange has the power to explore the multiverse. He can travel to other worlds and meet alternate versions of himself, maybe even one that isn't inexplicably charming. In comic books and science fiction, the multiverse refers to a collection of different universes that include our own.

But what about real science? Surely, the idea of the multiverse is purely limited to fantasy and imagination, right? Well, it might surprise you to know that the idea of the multiverse is actually part of scientific theory, and its existence would actually help explain some phenomena we already know about.

That being said, the science and theory behind the multiverse gets really complicated really quickly. If you're still committed to trying to untangle this multiverse madness, there are a bunch of terms you'll need to learn first before you can begin your multidimensional journey.

dimension

In science and math, a dimension is a property of space. You probably know that our spatial movement involves three dimensions: height, width, and depth. You can move forward and back, left and right, and up and down. There is also a fourth dimension: time. On Earth, time only moves forward at a constant rate. However, the measurement of time starts to behave oddly once you start moving really fast or decide to hang out around a black hole–more on them later. So, scientists tend to describe outer space in terms of both time and space. Speaking of which …

space-time

Space-time, also known as the space-time continuum, refers to the four-dimensional space that our reality exists in. This includes the three spatial dimensions together with time. Understanding space-time is important to getting a grip on the idea of the multiverse and where—and even when—other worlds might exist. Given how huge the universe is, we would need to better understand space-time and develop technology for traveling through both space and time to possibly discover worlds and universes beyond our own.

🔭 Turn your gaze to this quiz

The universe is full of infinite possibilities, including the chance to take our quiz on these "cosmic" words. Try it now or wait until you've reviewed all the words first. And when you're in the mood to plunge into deep space—er, I mean thought!—you can always visit our word list, with learning tools to practice these words.

cosmology

Cosmology is a branch of science that studies the nature of the universe. Cosmology often combines astronomy and physics when describing celestial phenomena. Basically, cosmology is concerned with studying where our universe came from and how it works. In practice, this involves a lot of extremely complicated math and experiments. The term cosmology also refers to a branch of philosophy that theorizes how the universe works, what our place in it is, and whether or not there might be other universes out there somewhere.

metaphysics

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that asks questions about the nature of reality and the universe. Unlike the science of physics, the philosophy of metaphysics relies solely on theory and speculation to explain how our reality works or might work. Because many theories focused on the multiverse or parallel universes are currently impossible to test or find supporting evidence for, they are often considered to be part of metaphysics rather than a natural science. For example, the idea of modal realism, which states that all possible worlds physically exist, is considered to be philosophy rather than science since it is impossible to prove and doesn't align with our current understanding of reality.

Learn some of the vocab inspired by everyone's favorite galaxy far, far away: Star Wars.

quantum

Without getting too technical, the word quantum is used in physics to describe really small quantities of energy. Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics, is a subscience of physics that studies subatomic particles and matter. Based on our current understanding of science, quantum mechanics seems to be the most likely route through which we may be able to explore whether or not the multiverse is scientifically possible.

Once you start looking at things at the subatomic level, the normally impossible seems to become possible. For example, the study of quantum mechanics has proven it is entirely possible for an atom to exist in two different places at the same time. Scientifically, this would suggest the idea of multiple identical universes existing simultaneously may be possible, and most multiverse theories rely on quantum mechanics to support the argument that the multiverse is possible.

the many-worlds interpretation

The many-worlds interpretation, also known as the Many-Worlds Theory, is a theory about the existence of other worlds or a multiverse. According to this idea, every possible event that could happen exists in another world. For example, if you roll a six-sided die and it comes up as a four, the MWI theorizes that there exist five other worlds where the other five rolls happened.

Out of all multiverse theories, this one is especially tempting to scientists because it doesn't imply that many random universes somehow exist. Randomness is a problematic concept in science, and this theory addresses it by suggesting all the universes exist. Also, it is possible to test this theory–albeit using methods that are much too complicated to go into here. Still, even this multiverse explanation remains entirely theoretical until we make new discoveries in quantum mechanics.

the big bang

The big bang, according to the big bang theory, was a sudden massive burst of matter and energy that created the universe billions of years ago. This theory is the most prevalent origin story of the universe and has supporting evidence such as the presence of cosmic microwave background, space radiation whose only scientific explanation is that it is leftover from when the big bang occurred.

Some multiverse theories speculate that the expansion that began with the big bang never stopped and that the universe is still expanding. Based on this inflation theory, it might be possible that the universe will continue to expand infinitely. This possibility leads to a multiverse theory in which "randomness" repeats and infinite "Earths" with infinite duplicates of "You" exist or will exist somewhere as the universe continues to grow indefinitely.

Another multiverse theory based on the big bang is the bubble theory. This theory speculates that different parts of space-time expanded at different rates. According to the theory, these "bubbles" of space-time resulted in bubble universes with different laws of physics. This multiverse theory suggests that our universe is just one of the many bubble universes out there.

observable universe

The term observable universe is used to refer to the portion of the universe we can see or could possibly see. Basically, the observable universe is everything we can see using devices like telescopes, probes, or other astronomical equipment. When discussing the possibility of a multiverse, the answer seems to lie outside the observable universe. As far as we know, there are no "bizarro Earths" out there or galaxies with different laws of physics. So, a multiverse theory may suggest that parallel worlds, galaxies, or universes exist beyond the limits of the observable universe that we can see.

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string theory

Without getting too confusing, string theory is a theory in physics that suggests that subatomic particles in quantum mechanics are string-like objects rather than points. String theory also supposes that space-time actually consists of more than three spatial dimensions. The theory states that these dimensions are simply so small that we are unable to detect them.

If string theory is true, these extra dimensions would make the multiverse scientifically possible. In one interpretation of string theory, for example, it is theorized that our universe exists on a membrane, called a brane. Our world exists on a three-dimensional brane alongside other branes which may have more dimensions and thus different laws of physics. If we could somehow reach those other branes, we may discover entirely new worlds and universes.

black holes

Black holes are extremely dense celestial objects whose gravity is so intense that not even light can escape them. This means that we can't even "see" them with astronomical equipment and must detect them using the area around them. Black holes are mysterious parts of our universe where the laws of physics break down and normal scientific rules don't apply. So, what would happen if someone entered a black hole?

The assumption is that a person would simply be destroyed by gravity. However, another theory among physicists is that black holes might be tunnels or wormholes that lead to other universes. If this theory is true, it is assumed that our own universe resembles a black hole in other universes as well.

Now shift your focus toward learning the synonyms for the "multiverse."

Is there another world out there with versions of ourselves in it? (a multiverse)

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Roger Ashford

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A lifetime studying all aspects of physics4y

Originally Answered: Are there other versions of me in the multiverse?

You don't need to go to the more exotic multiverse proposals to find exact copies of you. If the Many Worlds interpretation of quantum theory is correct (and these days it appears that many quantum physicists are moving to that away from the traditionally Copenhagen interpretation), then there are many you's in the various branches of reality. The universe is probably infinite, in which case there are also an infinite number of copies of you throughout the universe (Brian Greene calculates the distance to the nearest copy in "The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosm

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Andy Fletcher

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Science Speaker in 280+ Schools in 43 Countries at Life, The Universe & Everything (2002–present)2y

Originally Answered: If there is a multiverse, is a version of us in all of them?

If there is a multiverse (and there is not), then no. There are presumably (from Inflation Theory) an infinite number of universes, which means that for each unique universe, there are also an infinite number of copies. And there are an infinite number of universes that are slightly different, each with an infinite number of copies. But there are an infinite number of other universes that bear no resemblance to this one at all, including not having you in them, and each one of those is repeated an infinite number of times. So, no.

Awkward, right? Infinity is always bigger than you think it is.

Stephen Sywak

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Studied Mechanical Engineering & Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis (Graduated 1983)4y

Originally Answered: Are there other versions of me in the multiverse?

I've used this elsewhere about the supposed "multiverse," but it applies here:

The set of positive integers is infinite.

Negative numbers, the number 0.75, the number pi, and an INFINITY of rational and irrational non-integers do not exist in the infinite set of positive integers.

Just because a set is infinite does not mean that it possesses EVERYTHING.

TL;DNR: No way to know. And the answer may, in fact (for a given value of "fact") be "no."

Disclaimer: I personally HATE the whole "multiverse" concept. It's intellectually lazy, useless, inherently unprovable, and leads to all sorts of defeatist t