Do we live in a multiverse? Researcher believes that there is evidence for this

The idea that our Universe could only be one of many was considered heresy 60 years ago. However, today, increasing numbers of physicists and cosmologists, including Prof. Laura Mersini-Houghton, are leaning towards this theory. Professor Mersini-Houghton from the University of North Carolina, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in 2015, is a supporter of the multiverse theory and asserts that there is evidence to back it up.

According to her, certain anomalies observed in the structure of our Universe may indicate the existence of other universes. Professor Mersini-Houghton discusses these issues in her book "Before the Big Bang. About the Origins of the Universe and What is Beyond It". Until recently, asking what could have been before the Big Bang was considered absurd. It is known that the Big Bang started the creation of our Universe, but it was believed that further inquiries on this topic are unscientific.

Many serious physicists, including Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose, argued that we are not even able to investigate the very moment of the birth of the Universe, because nothing, absolutely nothing existed before its creation. We can't fathom the conditions that contributed to its creation. At the moment of the Big Bang, as Hawking and Penrose argued, there was an infinite density of energy - which they called singularity. This singularity was the limit of our rational knowledge.

Professor Mersini-Houghton notes that at the beginning of the 21st century, even such distinguished researchers as Hawking and Penrose began to waver and increasingly lean towards the multiverse theory. "What once was an unconventional idea on the fringe of science, is now in the mainstream of scientific research" - emphasizes.

Professor Mersini-Houghton refers to the laws of quantum physics, particularly to what is known as quantum entanglement - the correlation of two or more quantum states. Such "entanglement" can occur in certain situations in two universes, which gives the theoretical possibility of searching for traces of another world in our Universe.

"We only need to rely on the evidence available to us to gain a tremendous amount of knowledge about the birth of the universe. It cannot be overlooked that almost all the anomalies we predict can be discovered in the vast depths of our sky." - he contends.

The concept of multiple worlds has been considered by ancient philosophers, just like the idea that the Earth is not the center of our planetary system, let alone the Universe. However, they did not have evidence to support these theories. We still do not have evidence, but our cosmological knowledge is much greater.

In modern times, Prof. Andre Linde proposed the concept of an eternally replicating Universe, using the idea of cosmological inflation proposed in the 20th century by Prof. Alan Guth. According to this theory, the early Universe began to expand due to negative pressure - a positive density of vacuum energy. Linde argued that since this has happened once, it cannot be ruled out that such situations may spontaneously repeat themselves.

This is how other bubble universes are created, like bubbles of foam, in this case, cosmic foam. Their origin is episodes of fluctuation. The problem is that in this concept, it is even more difficult to search for the beginning of our universe, as well as the entire multiverse.

"If the theory of eternal inflation is correct, then our origins are pushed into an infinitely distant past, hidden in the childhood of all other bubble universes that existed before" - admits the author of the book "Before the Big Bang".

Can this process last indefinitely? Prof. Laura Mersini-Houghton believes that everything must become exhausted and it's the same with the multiverse. In her opinion, duplicating the universe over time becomes increasingly difficult. And, eternal inflation eventually stops. Anyway - she emphasizes - the cosmos is larger than our single Universe.