Science fiction fans are familiar with the idea of a multiverse universe. Actually the multiverse really exists or not, right? This is what the physicist says.
The multiverse interpretation is one of the ideas in physics that supports the concept of the existence of multiple universes. This concept stems from the way we understand quantum mechanics, which defies the rules of our "ordinary" world.
Although it is impossible to test it, and is considered an interpretation rather than a scientific theory, many physicists think that the multiverse is possible.
"When you look at the ordinary world, everything is measurable and predictable. If you drop a ball from the roof, it will fall to the ground. But when you look at the very small scales in quantum mechanics, the rules don't apply. Instead they are predictable. , it becomes a probability," said Sarah Martell, Associate Professor in the School of Physics, UNSW Science, quoted from the UNSW website.
The fundamental quantum equation, called a wave function, represents a particle occupying many possible positions, with a different probability for each position.
"If you try to observe a particle to determine its position, which is known in physics as the 'collapse' of the wave function, you will find it in only one place. But the particle actually occupies all the positions allowed by the wave function," he said.
This interpretation of quantum mechanics is important, because it helps explain some of the quantum paradoxes that logic cannot answer, such as why a particle can be in two places at once. Although it may seem impossible to us, because we experience time and space as fixed, mathematically it adds up.
"When you take measurements in quantum physics, you only measure one of the possibilities. We can work with that mathematically, but it's philosophically uncomfortable to say that the world stops predicting," says A/Prof. Martell.
"If you don't stick to philosophy, you just carry on with your physics. But what if the other possibilities were true? That's where the idea of the multiverse comes in," he said.
Quantum Multiverse
As depicted in many science fiction films, the interpretation of multiple worlds suggests that our reality is just one of many universes.
The universe is supposed to split or branch into other universes every time we take action, whether it's molecules in motion, what we eat, or your career choices.
"One version of you measures one outcome, and the other measures another outcome. That way, you don't have to explain why certain probabilities happened. It's just that everything that could have happened, did happen, somewhere," says A/Prof. Martell.
This is a logic often depicted in science fiction, such as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, in which five different Spider-Mans exist in different universes based on the idea that there are different events that govern each other's progress and timelines. .
This interpretation suggests that our decisions in this universe have implications for other versions of ourselves living in parallel worlds. But what about the possibility of interacting with this hypothetical alternative universe?
According to multiple world interpretations, humans would not be able to interact with parallel universes as they would in the movies, even though science fiction has creative license to do so.
"I think we're doing a lot of good by putting links out there that people can understand. So if we can get people interested in science through popular culture, they'll be more interested in the science we're researching," he concluded.
