The Multiverse Adventures

The Theory Behind Parallel Universes

Ronald was a lone physicist at a leading university in North America in 2030. His theories were too extravagant to make sense to anyone and many thought that he was crazy. Nevertheless, at his ripe age of 32 he persisted in working towards a unified theory of quantum gravity. He never liked the way physicists approached the problem. The conflict between general relativity and quantum mechanics to him just meant that the way we look at the cosmos from our human perspective must be completely wrong. To a normal person, the conflict simply meant that both of the theories were wrong and that to reconcile them a new theory was meant to be produced. It was known as the Grand Theory of Everything in the nerd circles. But Ronald still saw that grand theory for what it is: a human look at the universe. In it, the world still existed as it was and the laws of physics simply described the universe rather than define it.

Since the dawn of time men had assumed that what they saw with their eyes was what really existed. Thus they formulated equations based on the inherent physical existence of their surroundings. Still, there were those that disagreed. The famous movie Matrix postulated a world in which humans were simply fed information into their brains which made them see, smell and feel. Still, Ronald thought, that the movie didn't take the concept far enough as the humans physically existed outside of the reality that they were experiencing. All they had to do was to “wake up” and they could experience the real world. But, what if, there is no such thing as the real world to start with? What if all that we experience with our senses as well as measure with our instruments is simply a mathematical illusion? To explain the concept to his students Ronald would sometimes use the video game analogy. From inside the game the characters experience the world as real, physical, governed by pre-set and predetermined physical laws. However, from an outside perspective all we see are pieces of code existing in a mathematical framework. Our world too could be such a framework, Ronald postulated, and us – pieces of code, or rather highly complex sets of mathematical equations.

Insane as the theory seemed to many, it led Ronald to draw several conclusions about the nature of our universe. If all that there was is maths, then the nature of quantum gravity became a lot simpler than weird sets of equations in 11 dimensions that String theory had postulated. All that was needed was a message from one particle to another saying “ attract to me ” and gravity came into being. The particles communicated through several channels, all of which could be simplified down to a number of difference equations in our standard 4 dimensions. That said, the mathematical simplicity of the system was outweighed by the philosophical madness of the initial proposition. Another interesting corollary was the existence of multiple universes along the standard 4-dimensional geometry of spacetime. That, itself, was the result of the merger of quantum mechanics with general relativity. For in quantum mechanics a particle, such as an electron, can exist in two different places at the same time. So for example, when you fire an electron beam through two narrow slits, the beam ends up going through both slits and creating an interference pattern on the display. On the face of it, it is impossible. However, from the perspective of Ronald's theory it makes perfect sense. In one universe the electron goes through the right slit, in another through the left.

If we scale this model up to the real world, you get the following conclusion: whenever there is a choice to be made by a conscious agent, the universe splits in two. In the first universe the agent does one thing, in the second another. Therefore there exists an infinitely complex matrix of parallel universes defining all of the possible actions and reactions that can happen to us across our entire lifetimes. Or, in simpler terms, anything that can happen, does happen. You might just not be there to experience it.

“ That's all great ” thought Ronald, “ but what use is it for me in the real world? ”. At this moment he stopped recapping his own theory to himself for the nth time. He was sitting in his armchair located in his office at the university. On the right wall was a chalkboard with various equations scribbled on it, courtesy of Ronald's heavy duty effort of the previous night. He was supposed to go give a lecture later today but considered simply asking his friend to substitute for him as he wanted to do some more thinking.

“ If only I could crack the code of how to.... ” he paused at this moment. Well, even if he did figure it out, would it be useful? Humane? Moral? After all, anyone with such power is bound to become a psychopath!

The problem that was bugging Ronald consisted of figuring out how one could switch between the various universes. The main problem is that as with every decision our present universe splits into two, who decides which universe we observe and which we don't? Suppose you decide to go get a cup of coffee. In the universe that you are currently observing, you get up, walk outside and get yourself a coffee. But in another, you decide against going to get that cup and stay at your office working. So who, or rather what, decides which particular universe you observe? And if there is something that decides that, could it be programmed to alter its decision?

Here's a problem that was torturing Ronald for a while. Suppose you go outside for a walk and bump into a girl. You fall in love with her and marry. Together you go on your honeymoon on a cruise ship around the world, which ends up sinking. Though most of the passengers survive, your loved one ends up in rather unfortunate circumstances and dies. For the rest of your life you torture yourself over this problem, knowing full well that had you not gone for that walk that day you would never have met her and she would still be alive. So, knowing that there is another universe in which you decided against going for that walk, could there be a way of somehow observing it? Sure, should your consciousness be transported into that universe you would have no more living memory of that girl, but that is a small price to pay to keep your loved one alive.

At the same time Ronald understood about the dangers of possessing such a technology. Being able to rapidly shift between universes could make one take on greater risks and simply choose not to observe the resultant universe when the deal turns sour. Nevertheless, he trusted himself with good judgement in the matter and continued working towards a solution. Having spent countless days and nights at his office trying to sort out the maths, he felt himself being driven further and further away from the right answer with each passing hour.