Debate about everything and everywhere at once: the theory of the multiverse

The 95th Academy Awards ceremony has recently found its owners. One of last year’s most talked about films, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” made its mark on the night of the film world’s most prestigious awards. The production by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert achieved significant success, winning seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Director. On the other hand, the film again brought up a very interesting and mysterious topic: the theory of the multiverse. The fantastic plot in the film “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once” is actually based on a scientific theory put forward many years ago. So what is this multiverse theory? To what extent is the story told in the film consistent with scientific facts? Let’s look at the details together.

“Everything Everywhere, All At Once” follows the interuniverse journey of Evelyn Huang Wang, played by Michelle Yeoh.

In the film, Evelyn Huang Wang, who began a new life many years ago by immigrating from China to the United States with her husband, begins to travel between parallel universes and must accept different versions of herself in order to save her family and humanity. Throughout the film, Wang sometimes appears as a famous movie star, sometimes turns into a kung fu master, and sometimes is simply portrayed as a piece of rock. So what does the scientific theory behind this interesting scenario say?

What is the multiverse theory?

In its simplest form, the theory is based on the idea that the universe we live in may not be the only one. Accordingly, the universe in which we live may be part of a larger structure along with many other universes. According to scientists who support this theory, there could be millions, maybe billions of different universes. These universes are also called “alternate universes” or “parallel universes”.

The theory of the multiverse is today the subject of study of physics. However, until 1957 it was considered the subject of philosophy, not physics.

So much so that when the American physicist Hugh Everett came up with the idea in 1957 that there could be more than one universe, he was ridiculed in the scientific world, expelled from the academy, and his career came to an end. Behind Everett is cosmologist Laura Mersini-Houghton of the University of North Carolina in the US.He was suspended from physics and eventually became addicted to alcohol and died young. Tragic ending.he uses. However, the thoughts that long ago entailed the loss of a scientist’s career and life are today considered a very serious field of study.

Today, many scientists support the theory of the multiverse.

There are also scientists who think that a theory cannot be measured and tested, and therefore oppose the theory. However, by stating that the probability that only one universe contains favorable conditions for life is extremely small, scientists support the theory of the multiverse.

American theoretical physicist Sean Carroll, host of the documentary Cosmos: A Space Odyssey, and renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson are among the scientists who support the multiverse theory.

However, the scientist who made the theory known to the masses and contributed to the start of new discussions in this area is the famous physicist Stephen Hawking, who died in 2018. An article that Hawking published with the Belgian Thomas Hertog before his death allowed for different interpretations of the theory of the multiverse.

Stephen Hawking’s latest article on the Big Bang argued that the universe is not infinite, will not expand forever, and is much simpler than previously thought.

Modern physics gives different answers to the question of how the Universe originated. One of the most popular answers suggests that a period of rapid expansion called “cosmic inflation” began after the Big Bang. Many scientists believe that in the process of “cosmic inflation” many new universes arose, very different from each other. According to the theory, different universes have different conditions and different rules apply.

Here is Hawking’s latest article, which takes a rather innovative approach. Hawking advocates the idea of ​​a multiverse with similar conditions and similar rules, not different universes.

The pre-Hawking theory of the multiverse also admitted that there could be an unlimited number of “fantastic universes”.

For example, in the film “Everything, Everywhere and At Once”, the heroes who went to a parallel universe had “sausage fingers” here. However, with Hawking’s latest paper, the idea that alternate universes could be “normal” has gained weight.

Hawking used the “cosmic inflation” approach in his theory of the multiverse. However, some scientists argue that the theory is related to “quantum mechanics”.

An important element of the quantum mechanics-based approach to the theory of the multiverse is the “many worlds” interpretation, which is also very popular in science fiction. Accordingly, every major event and decision in life creates a gap in reality and causes the emergence of new universes. In short, there are currently different approaches to the theory. Discussions have been going on for a long time. However, the question arises whether the multiverse theory is provable.

In the scientific world, there are different answers to the question “Is it possible to prove the theory of the multiverse?”

Scientists who oppose this theory argue that it is impossible to test the multiverse theory, so it cannot be proven. But there are also scientists who consider this theory “provable”. In other words, there is no consensus on the provability of a theory. Geraint Lewis, professor of astrophysics at the University of Sydney, said:We have no idea if it can be tested” uses expressions.

How compatible is the story of everything, everywhere and at once, with scientific theory?

The film’s directors Scheinert and Kwan explained in an interview with the New York Times that they were inspired by both the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the idea of ​​cosmic inflation.

The prevailing opinion in the scientific world is that the film is scientifically “weak”. Some scholars state that the film is not “based” on scientific theories, only “inspired” by them. Physicist George Minik of Virginia Tech said:They used the multiverse as a tool for artistic exploration of an existential problem. I don’t think they use it for scientific purposes.” he uses.

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