
Guess that’s it, then, folks. Don’t forget to plow off the low-cal when yous unopen the lab door for the terminal time.
Dijkgraaf knows what he is talking about. “Once yous convey understood the linguistic communication of which [the cosmos] is written, it is extremely elegant, beautiful, powerful too natural,” he explained already inward 2015, “The universe wants to endure understood too that’s why nosotros are all driven past times this urge to detect an all-encompassing theory.”
This urge has driven Dijkgraaf too many of his colleagues to pursue string theory, which they originally hoped would give ascent to the unique theory of everything. That didn’t quite pan out though, too non surprisingly so: The sentiment of a unique theory is a non-starter. Whether a theory is unique or non depends on what yous require of it. The to a greater extent than requirements, the amend specified the theory. And whether a theory is the unique 1 that fulfils these or those requirements tells yous aught virtually whether it truly correctly describes nature.
But inward the terminal 2 decades it has choke pop inward the foundations of physics to no longer require a theory to pull our universe. Without that requirement, then, theories comprise an infinite release of universes that are collectively referred to equally “the multiverse.” Theorists similar this sentiment because having fewer requirements makes their theory simpler, too thence to a greater extent than beautiful. The resulting theory too so uniquely explains nothing.
Of form out if yous convey a theory amongst a multiverse too desire to pull our universe, yous convey to add together dorsum the requirements yous discarded earlier. That’s why no 1 who truly industrial plant amongst information always starts amongst a multiverse – it’s utterly useless; Occam’s razor safely shaves it off. The multiverse doesn’t gain yous anything, except perhaps the mightiness to brand headlines too speak of “paradigm changes.”
In string theory inward particular, to pull our universe we’d remove to specify simply what happens amongst the additional dimensions of infinite that the theory needs. String theorists don’t similar to brand this specification because they don’t know how to brand it. So instead they tell that since string theory offers so many options for how to brand a universe, 1 of them volition belike jibe the bill. And maybe 1 twenty-four lx minutes menstruum they volition detect a meta-law that selects our universe.
Maybe they will. But until too so the balance of us volition operate nether the supposition that at that topographic point are laws of physics. So far, it’s worked quite well, give cheers yous rattling much.
If yous desire to know to a greater extent than virtually what bizarre ideas theoretical physicists convey lately come upward up with, read my mass “Lost inward Math.”
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