Fine-tuning of the universe vs. The multiverse

C

Cypress

Well-known member
SI units for speed of light (c), universal gravitational constant (G), mass of electron (Me), Planck's constant (h):

c = 299,792,458
G = 6.673 x 10 (exponent minus 11)
Me = 9.10938188 x 10 (exponent minus 31)
h = 6.62607004 x 10 (exponent minus 34)

If any of these universal constants were just slightly different in numerical value, atomic structure and life would not be possible in the universe.

No one knows why these physical constants take the values they do, or if it is even possible for them to be anything else.


-Fine tuning argument: it seems to be the result of the fine-tuning of the universe. If these constants were slightly different in numerical value, the result would be a universe completely incapable of giving rise to life. Fine tuning is used to imply a purposefully engineered universe.

-Contingency approach: it is not possible for these numerical values to be anything other than what they are, therefore there is nothing to explain.

-Multiverse: the numerical value of the constants and the physical laws underlying them can vary, perhaps infinitely. We just happen to be in the universe where these numerical values reached a level of precision making life possible. Our universe won the jackpot.
 
Cypress said:
Not a chance.

I blame it on Laplace's Demon.
Click to expand...

Once they began talking about 'universes' being like soap bubbles, I began to feel very small and insignificant.
Then, I began to wonder if the Human Race would survive. It's all about 'Survival of the Fittest'.
 
Jack said:
Once they began talking about 'universes' being like soap bubbles, I began to feel very small and insignificant.
Then, I began to wonder if the Human Race would survive. It's all about 'Survival of the Fittest'.
Click to expand...

Next time you want to yell at the barista for making your coffee wrong, just remember the Multiverse. It helps put things in perspective.
 
The secret to the universe is not 42, it's 1 divided by 137 (1/137)

Apparently, the fine structure constant (alpha)* has been observed to change in numerical value slightly, depending on where in the universe the electro-magnetic radiation is emanating from.

*Physicist Richard Feynman, called it “one of the greatest damn mysteries of physics: a magic number that comes to us with no understanding”.

Could The Physical Constants Change? Possibly, But Probably Not

Although our physical theories give us a powerful understanding of the universe, they don’t explain physical constants. We don’t know why the speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second. That is just the result we get when we measure the speed of light. The same is true with every universal constant. They lay at the heart of physical science, yet all we can do is measure their value.

https://www.universetoday.com/14591...nstants-change-possibly-but-probably-not/amp/
Click to expand...
 
Researchers claim that evidence for the multiverse could potentially be found in the cosmic microwave background radiation. If other universes somehow interacted with ours, they would have left imprints on the cosmic microwave background, manifesting as regular and symmetrical patterns in the data.
 
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