Infinite doppelgängers may explain quantum probabilities
NewScientist.com: An identical copy of you is also reading this story. This twin is the same in every way, living on an Earth and in a universe that looks exactly like our own. And there may be an infinite number of them. Such doppelgängers could be a natural consequence of our present conception of the universe. Now, some physicists say they could pose a serious problem for quantum mechanics. But a possible fix may also be in sight, and it could help tie abstract quantum concepts to concrete physical causes.
At issue is the possibility that there could be a multiplicity of copies of any particular experiment floating about the universe, just as there could be a multiplicity of yous. There could even be an infinite number of them if, as is thought, the early universe underwent a period of exponential growth, called inflation.
Is quantum theory weird enough for the real world?
NewScientist.com: Physics, its practitioners will proudly tell you, is the most fundamental of sciences. Its theories and laws distil the workings of the real world – of particles and planets, heat and light – into stark, sweeping statements of universal validity. Think Newton’s law of gravity, which describes with equal assurance how an apple falls and Earth orbits the sun, or the laws of thermodynamics that govern how energy flows. These physical laws are generally couched in the language of mathematics, to be sure. But this is merely a convenient shorthand. The mathematical quantities are ciphers, proxies for the tangible objects of the real, physical world and their measurable properties.
That was all true until quantum theory arrived on the scene. Quantum theory is odd, not just because its weird predictions are a source of consternation for physicists and philosophers, but because its mathematical structures bear no obvious connection to the real world, as far as we can see. “We do not have a source for the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics,” says Časlav Brukner of the University of Vienna in Austria. “We do not have a nice physically plausible set of principles from which to derive it.”
Cosmic Lens Used to Probe Dark Energy for First Time
NASA: Astronomers have devised a new method for measuring perhaps the greatest puzzle of our universe — dark energy. This mysterious force, discovered in 1998, is pushing our universe apart at ever-increasing speeds.
For the first time, astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope were able to take advantage of a giant magnifying lens in space — a massive cluster of galaxies — to narrow in on the nature of dark energy. Their calculations, when combined with data from other methods, significantly increase the accuracy of dark energy measurements. This may eventually lead to an explanation of what the elusive phenomenon really is.
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Extended solar minimum linked to changes in Sun’s conveyor belt
An NCAR model of magnetic flux below the Sun’s surface, developed by Mausumi Dikpati and colleagues, shows the extended reach of flux transport during the solar cycle that ended in 2008 (right), compared to the previous cycle (left). The larger loop is believed to be related to the extended duration of the cycle. (Image courtesy UCAR.)
NCAR & UCAR News Center: A new analysis of the unusually long solar cycle that ended in 2008 suggests that one reason for the long cycle could be a stretching of the Sun’s conveyor belt, a current of plasma that circulates between the Sun’s equator and its poles. The results should help scientists better understand the factors controlling the timing of solar cycles and could lead to better predictions.
The study was conducted by Mausumi Dikpati, Peter Gilman, and Giuliana de Toma, all scientists in the High Altitude Observatory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and by Roger Ulrich at the University of California, Los Angeles. It appeared on July 30 in Geophysical Research Letters. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR’s sponsor, and by NASA’s Living with a Star Program.
The Sun goes through cycles lasting approximately 11 years that include phases with increased magnetic activity, more sunspots, and more solar flares, than phases with less activity. The level of activity on the Sun can affect navigation and communications systems on Earth. Puzzlingly, solar cycle 23, the one that ended in 2008, lasted longer than previous cycles, with a prolonged phase of low activity that scientists had difficulty explaining.
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Strange Discovery on Titan Leads to Speculation of Alien Life
This artist concept shows a mirror-smooth lake on the surface of the smoggy moon Titan.
NASA: Two new papers based on data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft scrutinize the complex chemical activity on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan. While non-biological chemistry offers one possible explanation, some scientists believe these chemical signatures bolster the argument for a primitive, exotic form of life or precursor to life on Titan’s surface. According to one theory put forth by astrobiologists, the signatures fulfill two important conditions necessary for a hypothesized “methane-based life.”
One key finding comes from a paper online now in the journal Icarus that shows hydrogen molecules flowing down through Titan’s atmosphere and disappearing at the surface. Another paper online now in the Journal of Geophysical Research maps hydrocarbons on the Titan surface and finds a lack of acetylene.
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Our World May Be a Giant Hologram
In Germany, team members of an experiment called the GEO600 Project may have accidentally stumbled upon one of the most important physics discoveries in a long time.
The project is meant to detect gravitational waves from outer space; however, some of the data recently collected by GEO600 may point to us living in a giant cosmic hologram.
A hologram is defined as being a projection of a three-dimensional image into space from a laser beam. In the 1990s physicists Leonard Susskind and Gerard t’ Hooft theorized that our universe may be a giant hologram and that our everyday experiences are a projection originating from a two-dimensional plane. Prior to this, physicist David Bohm and neurophysiologist Karl Pribram worked together to develop the theory that the brain operates in a manner similar to a hologram, and that this hologram contains both matter and consciousness in a single field. The GEO600 findings seem to support and uphold the theory of the existence of a holographic universe and could radically change our scientists’ picture of space-time.
According to Michael Talbot, the late author of “The Holographic Universe,” such theories provide the explanation for mystical experiences such as lucid dreaming, ESP, telepathy, and out-of-body experiences.
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