Saturday, May 26, 2007

Unlimited dimensions

According to the best science available, the universe is infinite in size and has infinite dimensions. If we take our view of the universe (called a Hubble Volume), we are able to see about 14 billion light years in all directions. We are, of course, in the center of that Hubble Volume since we are in one spot looking out. Taking into account the "big bang" theory, most simply assume we are seeing all of the universe there is. Were that true, then we are in the unique situation of occupying the exact spot the big bang happened. Since this is so unlikely as to be an impossiblity, then we are seeing a small portion of the material created and thrown out by the greater than cosmic explosion. Where we are is similar to being a tiny, tiny speck someplace in a large warehouse and we are seeing only a nearly infinitely small portion of the universe. This allows for an infinite number of Hubble Volumes we cannot see or even sense. In theory, somewhere in the universe, now termed "multiverse" there is an exact duplicate of you and I. In that multiverse Hubble Volume, somewhere out there, you stopped reading before getting this far. In another multiverse Hubble Volume, you're still reading along and giving it some thought. In the multiverse of Hubble Volumes there are Hubble Volumes containing every possiblity of you or I. Everything we could have been good and bad. All the best we could have attained and all the worst we could have become. I'm pretty happy with this Hubble Volume and who I am and have been. Hope you are too.

Then there are the Hilbert Dimensions. These are based on Quantum Theory and testing indicates these dimensions also exist. Hilbert Dimensions are infinite and are created constantly by every possiblility not taken. Where you are now is in the Hilbert Dimension of the string of possibilities you have actually taken. However, there are an infinite number of "you" in other dimensions where you took a different action. Testing shows that some, and possibly many, of these dimensions are very close and interact with this dimension at some level. One of the tests that purports to show this is based on firing one photon at a time at two slits and recording the interference pattern. When a great many photons are fired at a single slit, a pattern of a single bar is shown to occur. When a great many photons are fired at two slits, some go through one slit and some through another and a pattern of many bars is produced, similar to a wave action. This experiment originally was used to show that photons were made up of waves. However, a single photon should not act the same and when fired one at a time should have no interference pattern from other photons and should not produce multiple bars. To the surprise of the experimenters, the pattern produced by single photons was similar to the interference pattern produced by firing many photons at once. The only way this could happen is if photons from another dimension are creating interference with the single photon in this dimension. The idea is that some of the Hilbert Dimensions (quantum-produced dimensions) are so close to our dimension that they "cross over" and create the interference. Thus, our dimension "pulls" some of the other dimensions into ours to create the interference. Strange but appears to be true.

Since there are infinite dimensions, whether Hubble Volumes or Hilbert Dimensions, there must be an infinite of possiblities. One side effect of this may be that all the gods ever thought of and created by our dimension and all other dimensions probably do exist. Since a belief in a god (of some kind) is pretty much a universal human trait, the god business is pretty large and going strong. There may even be a set of dimensions where Micky Mouse is alive and well and humans are the cartoon characters. Maybe we are in that one and will never know. Whatever you can think of will be in some dimension and functioning. Fun to have as a daydream sort of recreation, knowing you are creating worlds beyond measure with your strange thoughts. Better even than the best Science Fiction novels.

So, get out there and create a few more gods, dimensions, or whatever. Just keep this one as good as you can.

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