Imagine you have a television remote that wasn't just a television
remote. What if this remote could also change the universal channel, and
even switch to other dimensions. Don't like this dimension? Sick of all
the paperwork your boss keeps harassing you about? No problem, just
switch over to another dimension. Even take a holiday there for a while,
once you've had enough, just press a button and you're back home in
your own dimension. Brings a whole new meaning to the term "channel
surfing" right?
Of course the reality of this awesome device would
only be possible in the distant future. But scientists are already
laying down the foundations to make this a reality, thanks to the fourth
level of parallel universes and M-Theory.
This level of parallel
universes and dimensions could exist in the same space and time as our
own, there could be a lion sitting right where you are now, in another
dimension of course. There could theoretically be an infinite number of
the dimensions existing like layers on all around us. Hard to imagine?
Think of your television, you can see and hear everything that's on one
channel because your television is tuned to that frequency. But that
doesn't mean the other channels no longer exist, they still exist and
carry on as they always have, in the same space and time as the rest of
the channels, you just aren't tuned to any of them, and therefore cannot
see them. So what if there possibly thousands of worlds around us,
living breathing creatures, fireballs from a volcanic eruption, even an
alien invasion happening all around you, but you're just not tuned to
that dimensions frequency? It's a spectacular realisation with endless
possibilities.
Physicists believe these extra dimensions and
universes could actually exist, and they may be created by either
quantum fluctuations, or by "Branes" Smashing together. These two
concepts are incredibly complex in their own respects, and I won't go
into much detail. But for now lets just picture two pieces of paper, one
on top of the other, separated by a few millimetres. These two pieces
of paper are blowing around in the wind and eventually these two pieces
of paper will collide in different areas. Now imagine these pieces of
paper are each a parallel universes or "Branes", and that each collision
creates a new universe or Brane. This is a simplified explanation for
this part of M-Theory.
So how can we tell if these extra
dimensions really exist? Surprisingly scientists are using Quantum Mechanics, the study of some of the smallest imaginable particles,
smaller than even atoms, to prove the existence of an entire universe.
The
Quantum world is an indefinite and chaotic world full of all sorts of
weird and wonderful particles, from electrons and protons, to all manner
of unimaginably small objects. None of which seem to know what they're
doing. According to Quantum Mechanics, an electron, the particle that
carries electricity, can be in two places at the same time. Other
particles can appear out of nothing in one spot, then completely
disappear into nothing and reappear out of nothing somewhere completely
different. But lets just focus on those electrons for now.
An
electron is described as being in many different places at once, in
parallel states. Now, we know our whole universe was once smaller than
an electron and if an electron can be in different places at once in
parallel states, then the universe must also exists in many places at
once in parallel states. Once you realize that, then you inevitably get
parallel universes, there's simply no other choice.
Scientists are
currently trying to either confirm or disprove this theory using giant
particle accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, and
the Tevatron Collider at Fermi-Lab. Using these massive scientific
machines, they are trying to find the Gravition, the particle they
believe is responsible for carrying gravity.
Gravity as we all
know it, is what's responsible for breaking our phones when we drop
them. But gravity also serves a greater purpose, it holds the planets of
our solar system in orbit around the sun, as well as the moon orbiting
the Earth. It even keeps the entire milky way together. But in spite of
all that, it's actually an incredibly weak force. The simple action of
lifting your pen off the desk has overcome the force of gravity. So why
is gravity so weak? Scientists believe that gravity is so weak because
gravitons are capable of jumping to other dimensions. So by using a
particle accelerator to smash particles into each other at close to the
speed of light, they are hoping to see the graviton go into the other
dimension, or more specifically, not see it.
Surprisingly they
hope to confirm the existence of the graviton, by never even seeing it.
It's actually a simple method of looking for something based on th
concept that if all other possibilities have been exhausted, whatever is
left must be the answer, no matter how implausible it may be. The
theory states that if they smash a Proton and an Anti-Proton together,
they will create an intense ball of energy, within which particles will
come from the remains of the protons. These particles however only live
for billionths and even trillionths of a second. But scientists don't
think they'll ever actually see the graviton, because it would have
already escaped to another dimension at the exact moment of the impact.
So
how can we prove the existence of something we can never see? In order
to answer this question, scientists are hoping to put these particle
collisions back together, and if there's any unexplained or missing
energy once its all back together, that would most likely be the missing
graviton. The logic behind it is that at the very instant of the
collision, the graviton will escape to another dimension, and therefore
will not be detected by the equipment. Its like getting a jigsaw puzzle
with a missing piece, except in this case, a missing piece is what you
want.
If the scientists at the particle colliders can find (or
should I say lose) these gravitons, it may very well confirm the theory
that we are surrounded by extra dimensions and universes. Of course
there is a lot more work to be done before such a radical theory could
be confirmed. But if it ever is, it would bring about massive changes to
how we perceive the world around us. But could we ever travel to these
extra dimensions and universes. It may be possible if we could focus
enough energy at a single point in space, to tear a hole in space itself
and create a wormhole to a parallel universe, or perhaps we could
change our tuning to that of the other dimension's frequency?
unfortunately no-one really knows, there are theories and models both
for an against this idea, but with the advances in modern physics,
science is seriously considering the possibility of extra dimensions and
Parallel Universes.
But for now we're still firmly stranded here
in this dimension, so for now, it looks like we'll just have to listen
to our boss and get on with that paperwork!
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