Quantum analogues: what is this viral phenomenon?

In social networks, videos are increasingly appearing in which people reflect on existence in parallel worlds: there they recall key segments of life and talk about some quantum analogues. Let’s find out who the quantum analogues are and how true the theory of parallel worlds is.

Who are quantum analogs and why is everyone talking about them? Videos about the fate of quantum analogs are spreading rapidly on social networks: people share memories of important stages in their lives that could have alternative development options.

At the heart of the trend is the simplistic idea of ​​multiverses, according to which there are many parallel realities in the universe where our quantum counterparts live: every time a person makes a responsible choice or finds himself in a life-and-death situation, a “parallel world” arises, where events unfold differently.

At first, videos were made about tragic or difficult life circumstances – illnesses, breakups and accidents. Later, people began to create more positive videos: about quantum analogues who live better or more interestingly than their originals. For example, they first finish reading books, and then buy new ones or return from the capitals to their hometowns to spend more time with their loved ones.

Some even poke fun at the trend by making funny videos about their counterparts: “My quantum counterpart died laughing in 8th grade English class.”

What is the essence of the hypothesis of quantum analogues from the point of view of modern physics According to the hypothesis of quantum analogues, the universe in which we exist may not be the only one – there are an infinite number of universes, and they are all combined into a multiverse – an alternative world that is absolutely identical to the one in which we live. The theory of the multiverse is not a single and complete concept: it is several independent scientific hypotheses that converge in one statement – our universe is not one.

The beginning of the theory of the multiverse is often associated with the interpretation of quantum mechanics by Hugh Everett: “Each quantum event, which has several possible outcomes, leads to a ‘branching’ of reality, as a result of which new universes appear.” Thus, history is not linear, but is an endlessly branching tree, where all possible options for the development of events exist simultaneously.

Another important source of the multiverse idea is the hypothesis of the inflationary model of the universe. This is a modern and generally accepted theory in cosmology, which describes the very first, extremely short stage of the existence of our universe – immediately after the Big Bang. In an extremely short time, the universe expanded to enormous proportions, which could lead to the formation of “bubbles” or individual universes within a larger cosmic structure.

The third version of the emergence of the multiverse is offered by string theory. We are used to the fact that in the universe that we know there are four dimensions – time and three related to space. But string theory predicts that there may actually be more dimensions. According to some variants of this theory, additional dimensions can be “folded” in different ways, and each type of “folding” determines the laws of physics in a given universe. It turns out that our universe, with its particular constants, is just one of a huge number of possible options in the so-called string landscape.

All models of the emergence of the multiverse derive the idea of ​​the multiplicity of universes not from philosophical conclusions, but from modern physical theories that try to describe the fundamental laws of the universe. This makes the multiverse hypothesis an important object of study in theoretical physics and cosmology.

Why many people criticize the theory of multiverses The main argument of scientists who criticize the theory is its fundamental impossibility of verification. If other universes are unobservable and do not interact with ours, can such a theory even be considered scientific?

In addition, there are ethical aspects of the probability of the existence of parallel realities. The theory of the multiverse changes the perception of randomness and choice: if every decision we do not make in this reality is realized somewhere else, then the question arises whether we are unique beings or just one version out of countless possible ones.

However, despite the fact that evidence for the existence of the multiverse remains hypothetical, the theory itself continues to stimulate the progress of theoretical physics, forcing scientists to revise the most basic concepts: time, space, reality. Future discoveries in quantum gravity, cosmology, and high-energy physics may one day answer the question of the existence of multiverses.

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