New quantum mechanics theory says parallel universes exist, interact

New quantum mechanics theory says parallel universes exist, interact

Published time: November 04, 2014 20:16




Reuters/NRAO

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Australia, Physics, Science, Space, USA

To the average person, quantum mechanics is the convoluted,
science fiction-y branch of physics.

A radical new theory plays into that, proposing that parallel universes exist
and interact with each other ‒ and that scientists may be able to test for them.

Prof. Howard Wiseman, a physicist at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia,
along with his collaborators Dr. Michael Hall, also of Griffith University,
and University of California, Davis mathematician Dr. Dirk-Andre Deckert,
published their new "many interacting worlds" (MIW) theory in the journal Physical Review X.

They posited that other universes are real, exist in vast numbers
and exert influence on each other.

“The idea of parallel universes in quantum mechanics has been around since 1957,”
Wiseman said in a statement. “In the well-known ‘Many-Worlds Interpretation’,
each universe branches into a bunch of new universes every time a quantum measurement
is made. All possibilities are therefore realised – in some universes the dinosaur-killing asteroid
missed Earth. In others, Australia was colonised by the Portuguese.”

The Director of Griffith’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics, Professor Howard Wiseman
(Griffith University)

“But critics question the reality of these other universes, since they do not influence our universe
at all,” he added. “On this score, our “Many Interacting Worlds” approach is completely different,
as its name implies.”

There are three main points to the MIW theory, according to the Griffith statement.

First, that the universe we live in is just one of an unknown“gigantic” number of worlds,
some of which are“almost identical to ours,” but most are “very different.”

Second, all of the worlds are “equally real,” existing continuously through time
with precisely defined properties.Third, quantum phenomena arise
from “a universal force of repulsion between ‘nearby’ (i.e. similar) worlds,
which tends to make them more dissimilar.”

“All quantum effects arise from, and only from, the interaction between worlds,“
the physicists explained in their abstract.

Hall said the radical new theory may even create the extraordinary possibility
of testing for the existence of other worlds.

“The beauty of our approach is that if there is just one world our theory
reduces to Newtonian mechanics, while if there is a gigantic number of worlds
it reproduces quantum mechanics,” he said in the statement.

“In between it predicts something new that is neither Newton’s theory nor quantum theory.
We also believe that, in providing a new mental picture of quantum effects,
it will be useful in planning experiments to test and exploit quantum phenomena.”

American theoretical physicist Richard Feynman once noted:

“I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics.”

And the MIW group admits that their theory is a bit out there.

"Any explanation of quantum phenomena is going to be weird,
and standard quantum mechanics does not really offer any explanation at all
‒ it just makes predictions for laboratory experiments," Wiseman told the Huffington Post
in an email. "

Our new explanation... is that there are ordinary [non-quantum] parallel worlds
which interact in a particular and subtle way."

Professor Dirk-André Deckert (Photo from www.math.ucdavis.edu)

Motherboard asked if the theory suggests that humans might someday be able to interact
with other universes.

"It's not part of our theory," Wiseman replied. "
But the idea of [human] interactions with other universes is no longer pure fantasy."

Others in the quantum mechanics field ranged from skepticism to excitement,
Huffington Post reported, noting there is no consensus on whether
“many interacting worlds” exist or interact.

"There are some who are completely happy with their own interpretations of QM,
and we are unlikely to change their minds," Wiseman said in his email.

"But I think there are many who are not happy with any of the current interpretations,
and it is those who will probably be most interested in ours.
I hope some will be interested enough to start working on it soon,
because there are so many questions to answer."


http://rt.com/usa/202255-many-interacting-worlds-quantum-mechanics/

 

[1:09:51 PM-November 5th, 2014+11UCT] susan lynne schwenger: http://www.cosmosdawn.net/forum/ind...y-says-parallel-universes-exist-interact.775/
[1:10:06 PM] susan lynne schwenger: i think it is just a bunch of smoke and mirrors; where is their maths ?
[4:17:26 PM] Shiloh Za-Rah: Basically yes, but this is rather intricate and technical. The MWI ios bogus if applied to actual parallel universes, but mathematically ok if the universes are not parallel in separation but connected in say rotational phaseshifts.
[4:18:03 PM] Shiloh Za-Rah: In this latter take this proposal actually is feasible, as it does explain quantum mechanics as a multiverse.
[4:18:23 PM] susan lynne schwenger: maybe you have the maths
[4:18:49 PM] Shiloh Za-Rah: point always for you to remember when you come across such models, is that there is an omniverse encompassing the multiverses

 

Radical New Quantum Theory

Says Other Universes Affect Our Own

Posted: 11/04/2014 8:51 am EST Updated: 11/04/2014 8:59 am EST

Parallel universes have long been a staple of science fiction.

But according to a radical new theory of quantum mechanics published Oct. 23 in the journal Physical Review X,
other universes are real--and they exist in vast numbers.

What's more, the scientists behind the theory say the other universes exert a subtle repulsive force on our own universe--and that this force is what makes the quantum realm so mind-bendingly bizarre.

"Any explanation of quantum phenomena is going to be weird, and standard quantum mechanics does not really offer any explanation at all--it just makes predictions for laboratory experiments," Prof. Howard Wiseman, a physicist at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, and one of the creators of the new "many interacting worlds" theory, told The Huffington Post in an email. "Our new explanation...is that there are ordinary (non-quantum) parallel worlds which interact in a particular and subtle way."

The theory is a new twist on the so-called "many worlds interpretation" of quantum mechanics,
which dates back to the 1950s. As Wiseman explained in a written statement issued by the university:
"In the well-known 'many worlds interpretation,' each universe branches into a bunch of new universes each time a quantum measurement is made. All possibilities are therefore realized
--in some universes the dinosaur-killing asteroid missed Earth.
In others, Australia was colonised by the Portuguese.

But critics question the reality of these other universes, since they do not influence our universe at all.

On this score, our 'many interacting worlds' approach is completely different, as the name implies."


Wiseman and his collaborators--Dr. Michael Hall, also of Griffith University, and University of California,
Davis mathematician Dr. Dirk-Andre Deckert--say that their theory may have important implications in the field of molecular dynamics, which is critical to understanding chemical reactions.

Does it also suggest that humans might someday be able to interact with other universes?

"It's not part of our theory...," Wiseman told Motherboard.
"But the idea ofinteractions with other universes is no longer pure fantasy."

What do other experts make of the new theory?

Dr. Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist at Arizona State University in Tempe,
told The Huffington Post in an email that he was "skeptical."

And a popular Czech Republic physicist wrote on his blog that while Wiseman and his collaborators
had "managed to present some ideas that are at least slightly original," their paper was
"another example of the fact that such efforts are a hopeless enterprise and a huge waste of time."
But Charles Sebens, a philosopher of physics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor,
told Nature that he was excited by the approach taken by Wiseman and his collaborators.

“They give very nice analyses of particular phenomena like ground-state energy and quantum tunneling,"
he told the journal. “I think that together they do a nice job presenting this exciting new idea.”

Dr. L. William Poirer, professor of chemistry at Texas Tech University in Lubbock,
also expressed support for the "many interacting worlds" theory.

He told HuffPost Science in an email that Wiseman and his collaborators had made
"an important contribution...There is no experimental evidence to support this yet,
but if true, it means that their theory will make different experimental predictions
than standard quantum mechanics does."

Clearly, there's no consensus. But if Wiseman is dismayed by the uneven reaction to the theory,
he's not letting on.

"There are some who are completely happy with their own interpretations of QM,
and we are unlikely to change their minds," he said in the email.

"But I think there are many who are not happy with any of the current interpretations,
and it is those who will probably be most interested in ours. I hope some will be interested enough
to start working on it soon, because there are so many questions to answer."

In the meantime, the last word should probably belong to Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988), who once said, "I believe I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/...ory_n_6091438.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063