Our world is fraught with many mysteries. For millennia, people have been trying to figure out how the universe is nevertheless structured, by what laws it develops, where its beginning and what its end will be. We have prepared for you amazing theories about the universe that you may not know. Of course, these are just theories, some of which look quite fantastic, nevertheless they are based on science and may well be true.
1
The universe should never exist
Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury once wrote: "We are impossible in an impossible universe." And according to a model based on the Higgs boson particle from King's College London, he could not be even more right, because the universe should not exist.
The problem is that in just a split second after the Big Bang, the Universe underwent something called cosmic inflation, which was a fast expansion of the Universe. If true, inflation would most likely cause quantum swings or shocks in the energy field. These shocks would be so strong that they would push the universe out of the Higgs field, which is responsible for giving the particles their mass. In this case, the universe will cease to exist. Of course, since you are reading this, you know that this model is wrong. So why does the universe exist when it should not?
Of course, there is a high probability that these conclusions are erroneous, and some new particle may be found in the future explaining such behavior of the Universe. However, until we find out, we are just lucky to be here, while, theoretically, we should not be here.
2
At first the universe was one-dimensional
It is generally accepted that the Big Bang was an explosive sphere. But another theory claims that in the first thousand trillion seconds of the Big Bang, it was actually a one-dimensional line. Energy chased back and forth before creating tissue, which is the second dimension. Then it turned into three dimensions - this is the world that we see.
If the model is correct, this will help to solve several problems with the standard model of particle physics, for example, the discrepancy between quantum mechanics, the general theory of relativity and cosmic inflation. However, if this theory is correct, it will lead only to big questions. For example, how and what mechanisms were used to turn the universe into different dimensions?
3
Ten measurements?
Image of a two-dimensional hypersurface of the Calabi-Yau quintic in three directions.
In the previous theory, we talked about how the Universe turned into a three-dimensional one. However, there are many more dimensions. According to Superstring theory, there are at least 10 of them.
Here's how it works: the first dimension is just one line. The second dimension is height. The third is depth, and the fourth is time.
Let’s do more with this. We are used to thinking that time is a passing thing; for us there is a past and a future. In string theory, time is the same dimension as depth or height. Each object in the Universe can be located in a particular period of time, just like it has the coordinates of space. For example, you can be found on Earth in such a coordinate of space in the 2020th year. Here time acts as an additional fourth coordinate.
Where it starts to get a little strange, this is the fifth dimension. This is where the multiverse theory comes into play. In the fifth dimension there is a universe very similar to ours, and we could find the similarities and differences of our worlds.
The sixth dimension is a set of parallel Universes with the same initial conditions. So, if our Universe began with the Big Bang, then all other Universes in the sixth dimension also start with the Big Bang, just at each new moment in time the differences between them increase. In other words, these are all possible options for the development of the Universe starting from the Big Bang. These Options are infinitely many, and in some of them, perhaps our Sun does not exist, but in some you exist, you are a millionaire, and maybe vice versa - a beggar. In some parallel universe you are a doctor, in some kind of robber. And every second there are many new parallel worlds, in one of them you read this article to the end, in the other you are now closing the page.
The seventh dimension is even more complicated. These are worlds with different initial conditions. If our world began with the Big Bang, then in the seventh dimension the Universes arise in different ways, of which one can only guess.
The eighth dimension describes the totality of all Universes with all sorts of initial conditions, in each of which there are an infinite number of branches.
The ninth dimension describes all kinds of Universes with different initial conditions, with different laws of physics, with different particles.
And the last, tenth dimension includes absolutely everything that can be imagined and even more. This is the totality of everything. In the 10th dimension, even NOTHING is possible. And this is something that people cannot even understand.
The editors of thebiggest are already completely confused with these measurements. But string theory in the scientific world is no longer a priority, although talk that the universe has more than 4 dimensions is very relevant.
4
We live in the distant past of a parallel universe
The term “arrow of time” was first introduced in 1927 and describes the passage of time. Everything in our world obeys the second law of thermodynamics, which says that entropy always increases. The eggs are cracked and beaten, and will never spin back and fall into the shell.
The problem is that if time moves only forward, then many of the best equations about how the Universe works, for example, James Clerk Maxwell’s electrodynamics theory, Isaac Newton’s universal law of gravity, or Einstein’s special and general theory of relativity, will be wrong.
However, if time runs back and forth, then all of them will work perfectly. One of the incredible options for the structure of our Universe is that during the Big Bang two parallel Universes formed. One, where time moves forward, and parallel, where time goes back.
If we could see another Universe, we would see that time goes back, and we would probably see the future of our Universe (assuming that we have not passed the average age of the Universe). We would live in the distant past of a parallel universe. This, of course, if we are not in a reality that lives in the opposite direction and does not understand this.
5
We live in the Matrix
A lot of time has passed since the release of the film Matrix in 1999, but the idea that our Universe is a computer simulation is gaining more and more fans among the representatives of the scientific community.
Indeed, there are many prerequisites for this. Let's start with clear analogies. Today, the development of information technology is developing very rapidly. Even 20-30 years ago, people played television set-top boxes with terrible graphics, and now we can plunge into the world of virtual reality using various devices. In less than half a century, a person will be able to get into virtual reality, completely not distinguishing it from the real world.
This led many to think, but could it be that some kind of civilization has reached such a level of development that it was able to simulate a physically correct world in which the characters could not be aware that they live in an artificial simulation? Why not?
And we are sure that in the future humanity will try to create such a world, and after several attempts will do so.
As errors occur in any computer program, in our world we observe some strange things. For example, miracles can be explained by the "bugs" of the system. The limited speed of light also fits easily into this model. And quantum theory in general is replete with obscure things. For example, in a computer game, to optimize memory resources, at a greater distance, smaller objects become less detailed. So in life, elementary particles behave in completely different ways. Upon a detailed examination, they obey the laws of quantum physics, but if we remove the observer, then the particles begin to live according to other, more simplified laws. This also argues for a theory of simulation.
Imagine that in the future, people will create a world in which we can fully simulate our Solar System, to the smallest elements. And the Earth and the Moon, and even people. That's quite possible. And it is possible that this world will create some kind of schoolchild of the future on his personal computer as part of his usual homework. And in a fraction of a second, the computer will calculate billions of years of development of this world, why not? And there will be millions of such students. And what prevents them from doing a thousand such worlds? Nothing. And it is very possible that our world is one of those.
And let's go further. Imagine the same student who created a kind of virtual universe in which people live. And these virtual people have evolved to the point where they were also able to create a new virtual world within their virtual world. And in that world there are also people who suspect nothing. Thus, it is likely that our schoolchild of the future may end up in one of these worlds, which is also created by some kind of civilization.
And the last one. Think of a few billion people in the world. How many of them have you seen? A thousand? Two? Three? Usually you communicate with a fairly narrow circle of people. Parents, children, friends, relatives. Do you think that a lot of computer resources will be spent on detailed modeling of your body, as well as people close to you?
It's not over yet
If you liked this article, we have good news for you! You can read other equally interesting theories about the structure of our Universe in this article. TheBiggest editors are looking forward to your comments on this topic. Write what amazing theories about the Universe seemed to you the most plausible.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated since its initial publication in November 2017.