The allure of the multiverse Extra dimensions, other worlds, and parallel universes

Paul Halpern, 1961-

Book - 2024

"We are obsessed with the multiverse. From blockbuster movies Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once to television's The Man in the High Castle and Rick and Morty, the idea that there could be an infinite number of universes holding an infinite number of possibilities captivates us. And this fascination is not new - the fascination with these repetitions dates back to the philosophers of ancient Greece. In The Allure of the Multiverse, physicist Paul Halpern examines the theory of the universe we can't seem to let go; in an infinite universe, finite components are bound to repeat their patterns again and again. Halpern traces the multiverse from the ancient Greek debate over cosmic... building blocks, to German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's imagined eternal repetition of all events and lives in time, to Albert Einstein's special and general theories of relativity opening the door to the fourth dimension (another way of enlarging reality). All these ideas together culminated in Princeton graduate student Hugh Everett's "Many Words Interpretation," in which all possibilities of existence simultaneously exist. That imaginative idea led to numerous other multiverse notions, including the idea that the universe might be a collection of "bubble universes," each inflated from the primordial stuff of the cosmos. Yet the prospect of such a maddening labyrinth of parallel realities has led other researchers to propose alternatives, such as bouncing universes in multiple dimensions, that are every bit as perplexing. An epic through physics' history, The Allure of the Multiverse explores one of physics' most controversial --yet most persistent--ideas"--

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Subjects
Genres
SCIENCE / Space Science / Cosmology
Informational works
Published
New York : Basic Books 2024.
Language
English
Main Author
Paul Halpern, 1961- (author)
Physical Description
308 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781541602175
  • Introduction: When one universe is not enough
  • Eternity through the stars : Louis-Auguste Blanqui, Friedrich Nietzsche, and the quest for replica worlds
  • Theories from another dimension : Albert Einstein's ground-shattering revolution and Theodor Kaluza's radical response
  • Showdown in Hilbert's Hotel : the competing quantum visions of Niels Bohr, Hugh Everett, and others
  • Order from chaos : Charles Misner's mixmaster model versus Brandon Carter's anthropic principle
  • Burgeoning truths : Alan Guth, Andrei Linde and the inflationary universe
  • Tangled up in strings : Ed Witten, Steven Weinberg, and the higher dimensional landscape
  • Seasons of rebirth : the vying cyclic cosmologies of Paul Steinhardt and Roger Penrose
  • The time travelers party : Kip Thorne, Steven Hawking, and the prospects for temporal voyages
  • Conclusion: The reflecting pool and the sea : contemplating the meaning and purpose of the multiverse.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Halpern (Flashes of Creation), a physics professor at Saint Joseph's University, delves into the multiverse in this thought-provoking if challenging offering. He opens with a superb introduction to the concept of the multiverse, explaining that it stems from physicist Hugh Everett's hypothesis that measuring quantum states "splits" reality, with every possible outcome constituting its own world. The idea is not without its critics, Halpern notes, observing that because there's no agreed upon method for detecting or measuring alternate universes' existence, some scientists decry the multiverse as unfalsifiable. The bulk of the book consists of a broad scientific and philosophical history of the ideas underlying the multiverse, covering Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr's disagreements over observers' role in quantum mechanics and physicist Paul Steinhardt's 1980s work suggesting the early cosmos might have been "a bubbling froth of multiple expanding universes."Halpern sometimes loses focus, however, as when he takes a lengthy detour examining Friedrich Nietzsche's belief in the "endless repetition of events throughout the eons." Though Halpern does his best to make the science accessible (he likens Everett's understanding of the multiverse to "an ever-flowing river with many persistent branches"), his valiant efforts come up short when faced with the complexity of string theory and a proposed "eleven-dimensional brane world." Still, the curious will find much to ponder. Photos. (Jan.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

Science writer and physicist Halpern (Saint Joseph's Univ.; Flashes of Creation) taps into the current fascination with alternate realities. A growing number of movies, TV shows, and novels point to increased understanding and questioning of multidimensional worlds. Halpern posits the possible existence of parallel universes via conceptual frameworks from geometry, cosmology, and physics--some of them widely accepted, others already discounted, and many currently under critique. He connects the research of Newton, Einstein, and Hawking to that of dozens of other historical and modern figures. Proceeding through decades of observation, experimentation, and simulation, the book charts the movement toward and then away from from a single, unified theory of the universe. VERDICT This expert untangling of complicated concepts will kindle curiosity and awe for quantum physics. An excellent recommendation for both science-fiction enthusiasts and readers of popular nonfiction.--Catherine Lantz

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

The author of Einstein's Dice and Schrödinger's Cat returns with another examination of difficult scientific concepts. Halpern, a Guggenheim fellow and professor of physics at Saint Joseph's University, begins by introducing the James Webb Space Telescope, launched in late 2021, whose instruments reach "faint, distant galaxies from the nascent era of the universe" and send back "vivid photo evidence." By definition, our universe includes everything, so an "alternative" universe makes no sense; no one will ever see one. Yet multiverse models offer enticing mathematical and theoretical ideas. Such concepts were no secret to 19th-century mathematicians, but they entered the mainstream in the 20th when the physics community reluctantly accepted a fourth dimension to make sense of Einstein's relativity. Then, scientists confronted quantum theory, which works so brilliantly, at least theoretically, that the traditional view (propounded by quantum pioneer Niels Bohr) requires physicists to accept that quantum phenomena occur in a "black box." Although this remains the standard interpretation, plenty of geniuses yearn to look inside the box. A dedicated teacher, Halpern explores half a dozen relevant topics including string theory, supergravity, and M-theory. Readers anxious to plunge ahead may want to reserve their decision until they sample the author's explanation of a simple high school physics term: the vector. Halpern's analysis is not for the innumerate, but dedicated readers will be rewarded by illuminating discussions of a host of complex concepts, a penultimate chapter on the physics of time travel, and a conclusion that describes alternate universes portrayed in movies and TV. Halpern's 2021 book, Flashes of Creation: George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, and the Great Big Bang Debate, is a delightful and accessible popular science book. This follow-up is an ingenious slog that may enlighten those with college courses in relativity and quantum theory under their belts. Cutting-edge physics for the educated layperson. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.