As he argued, the universes as we know it might be a “infant Universe” that was created by a sophisticated technological civilization in a lab!
His credentials likewise include chairing the National Academies Board on Physics and Astronomy, the advisory board for Breakthrough Starshot, and being a member of the Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. He is also the author of the bestselling book “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth,” which resolved the possibility that the interstellar item Oumuamua was an artificial probe.
This time around, its the foundations of deep space itself (and whether or not aliens might have been included) that have drawn in Loebs interest. For starters, there have been many conjectures regarding what might have existed before the Big Bang. Some of the more well-known examples include that the Universe emerged from a vacuum variation or that it is a cyclic procedure with duplicated durations of contraction and growth– Big Bang, Big Crunch, repeat.
There is even the idea that deep space was born from matter collapsing inside a great void in another Universe, which then rebounded to form the other side of the Einstein– Rosen bridge (a “wormhole”) where our Universe was conceived. A comparable version of this argument states that the Big Bang might have been a supermassive “white hole” that formed from a supermassive black hole (SMBH) in our parent universe.
Another theory is that our Universe is an effect of the string theory interpretation of the multiverse, where boundless Universes exist side-by-side, and every possibility plays out an infinite number of times. According to Loeb, this might take the type of our Universe being developed in a lab by an advanced civilization. “Since our universe has a flat geometry with a no net energy, an innovative civilization might have established a technology that created a baby universe out of absolutely nothing through quantum tunneling.”
Another theory is that our Universe is a repercussion of the string theory analysis of the multiverse, where infinite Universes exist together, and every possibility plays out a limitless number of times. “Since our universe has a flat geometry with a no net energy, an innovative civilization could have established a technology that produced a child universe out of absolutely nothing through quantum tunneling.”
As the previous chair (2011-2020) of the astronomy department at Harvard University, the founding director of Harvards Black Hole Initiative (BHI), the director of the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC) at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), and among the primary researchers with the Galileo Project, Loeb is no complete stranger to “unique” theories about sophisticated intelligence and cosmic origins.
“As a result the developer of the baby universe will never ever understand which type of civilization formed in it and will likewise not be able to step in. The Baby Universe theory is consistent with this idea, as it theorizes that the Universe offers increase to sophisticated civilizations that are drivers of a cosmic Darwinian choice process.
It is a pivotal time for cosmologists, astrophysicists, and theorists alike. In the coming years, next-generation space and ground-based telescopes will come online that will use advanced technology and artificial intelligence to probe the inmost depths of the cosmos. What they find there, with any luck, will allow scientists to resolve a few of the most long-lasting concerns about the origins of life and the Universe itself.
Alas, one question that we may never ever have the ability to answer is the most important of all: if the Universe was conceived in a Big Bang, what was here prior to that? According to a new op-ed by Prof. Abraham Loeb (which just recently appeared in Scientific American), the answer might be complete stranger than even the most “exotic” descriptions. As he argued, the universes as we understand it may be a “infant Universe” that was created by an innovative technological civilization in a laboratory!
In the context of quantum physics, tunneling refers to a phenomenon where a wave function can propagate through a potential barrier. This plays an essential function in physical phenomena, varying from nuclear blend and tunneling electron microscopes to quantum computing. Sadly, the Standard Model of particle physics designs can not resolve how quantum mechanics and gravity interact, thus why a Theory of Everything (ToE) is still lacking.
A sufficiently sophisticated species might have currently developed a ToE and the technology for developing infant Universes. In essence, this theory provides a possible origin story that interest the spiritual concept of a developer and the secular concept of quantum gravity alike. It suggests that a Universe like our own– which hosts a minimum of one civilization (i.e., us)– resembles a biological system that reproduces over generations. As Loeb described to Universe Today via e-mail:
” It explains the Big Bang as an infinite series of baby universes born inside each other, much like chicks hatching out of eggs and laying new eggs later in their life. If something predated this series of generations– it would have been something else, simply as in the chicken and egg predicament.”.
This is reminiscent of the Kardashev Scale, which identifies civilizations by Type (I, II, and III) based upon the amount of energy they can harness. Whereas Type Is are able to harness the energy of their entire world, Type II civilizations can harness the energy of their whole galaxy, and Type IIIs can harness the energy of their whole galaxy. In this case, states Loeb, the metric is a civilizations ability to reproduce the astrophysical conditions that resulted in their existence.
The Big Bang Theory: A history of deep space beginning with a singularity and broadening ever given that. Credit: grandunificationtheory.com.
For some, this entire Baby Universe theory may sound similar to the Zoo Hypothesis– a proposed resolution to the Fermi Paradox. However as Loeb explained, theres a basic difference in between the two:.
” The Zoo is a place where you enjoy the animals, however a baby universe can not be observed from the outside according to General Relativity, Einsteins theory of gravity. The interior of the baby universe vanishes from view of the creator and snaps out of the developers spacetime. The circumstance is comparable to the formation of a great void, where all the matter that falls under it can not be observed once it goes into the great void horizon. “As a result the creator of the infant universe will never understand which type of civilization formed in it and will also not have the ability to step in. Creating a baby universe might not consume energy because the negative gravitational energy counteracts the positive energy of matter and radiation in our universe, which is defined by a flat geometry. “The fate of our Universe is completely independent of the child universe, simply as the history of an individual that enters the event horizon of a black hole has no impact on us. Based upon everything we understand, our own universe will broaden permanently.”.
Another appealing function of this theory is the way its free of anthropic reasoning, which essentially mentions that deep space was picked for us to exist in. Officially understood as the Anthropic Principle, this stands in opposition to the Copernican Principle (or Cosmological Principle) that asserts that there is absolutely nothing special or special about humanity or the area we inhabit in the Universe. The simple reality that small variations in the laws of physics would rule out life would seem to recommend that we are lucky.
Artist view of an active supermassive great void. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada.
In the last few years, it has been suggested that multiverse theory is a possible resolution for the Anthropic Principle. The Baby Universe theory follows this idea, as it theorizes that the Universe generates sophisticated civilizations that are drivers of a cosmic Darwinian selection procedure. At present, humankind is not advanced enough to replicate the cosmic conditions that resulted in our presence.
Whereas a civilization that might recreate these cosmic conditions (i.e., produce a “infant Universe” in a laboratory) would fall under class A on this proposed cosmic scale, a class B civilization might change the conditions in its immediate environment to be independent of its host star. Provided our present circumstance, humanity is currently a class C or D given that we can not recreate the habitable conditions on our planet (when our Sun passes away) and are thoughtlessly ruining planet Earth through environment change.
Ultimately, humankind may reach the point where we become a class A civilization and can partake in the assumed process of cosmic recreation. Perhaps we will even be able to produce an infant Universe that is an enhancement over our own.
” We are getting close to producing synthetic life in our labs. When we will understand how to combine quantum mechanics and gravity, we may know how to make a child universe in the laboratory. The principles of making another universe would be comparable to making another human … “But eventually, it would be lovely to our species if the capabilities that past generations appointed to God, particularly producing a universe and creating life in it, will be at our disposal as an innovative clinical civilization. If another civilization that predated us by a billion years had reached that goal currently and we will experience it one day, then that civilization will be a great approximation to what our previous faiths concerned as God.”.
Further Reading: Scientific American.
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