Multiverse - One Universe or Many?
A very lighthearted debate.
Topic: Multiverse, Inflationary Theory With Neil Turok, Andreas Albrecht, Alan Guth, Andrei Linde, John Hockenberry (moderator)
[[gravity can be a repulsive force]] When the energy density is high enough
When we invented [[inflationary theory]] I knew theory had to be correct, because it would never be checked… But then I learned to respect our experimentalist colleagues…
Because the tech to do so seemed impossible, bu then; the cosmic background radiation image
A guy living on the black part of a football will see only black and seek an explanation for the creation of an entirely black universe, because that's his experimental data. A guy living on the white part of the football thinks the entire universe must be white. With black being exponentially far away he has no idea that there is black there. Our observable universe has a similar event horizon to a black hole, but in inverse. See also: [[causal disconnection]]
Inflationary theory is incomplete… as the question of why the inflation started has never been answered. – Neil Turok
I found it quite claustrophobic to move from the infinite universe to the finite universe, but I am glad I did – Andreas Albrecht
Turok mentions a cyclic model with two universes that are separated by an extra dimension. Does not involve inflation, nor multiverse. Brane theory.
I think we need theories of the universe that don't depend on infinity. Finite works just fine – Andreas Albrecht
Steven Weinberg - what happens with multiverse theory reminds him of what happened with special relativity –