Let me start from the beginning.
Michio leads off with an overview of the book in which he describes the idea of parallel worlds/universes as becoming a popular idea in modern cosmology. He also likens this to a combination of religious ideas where you can have your creation and your perpetual universe too. That is, he suggests the idea that the multiverse could be thought of as universal 'bubbles' constantly 'banging' (as in big bang) into existence amid the timeless sea of a greater cosmos.
He continues by discussing results of WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) and 2002 measurements of the background radiation that put the universe, very precisely measured, at 13.7 billion years old.
Another thing that WMAP did was to show us just how much of our universe is not composed of the periodic elements. We now see that only 4 percent of the universe is made up of matter of a type we understand. The rest is made of dark matter and dark energy (a mind boggling 73 percent is dark energy).
Now, I don't have any more idea on the fundamental nature of what dark matter or dark energy could be composed of, however, what did occur to me is that, if our universe is not strongly bounded but rather a quasi-loose collection of matter (galaxies, stars, etc) then the situation may be more akin to a dandilion dander floating in a river. Conceptually, one could think of this (here's where the 3D art part comes in) as a sphere whose volume has been textured with patches of colour (galaxies) and patches that are transparent. Or, to put it another way, imagine our universe is permeable to the greater cosmos (that sea of the multiverse). Now, instead of being self contained, we are part of the whole and the whole can flow through out universe. i.e. the dark matter energy may actually be fundamental 'stuff' of the greater cosmos, the structure of the multiverse, that flows like an immense river through our (and other) universe.
Conceptual representations of different universe 'types'. The top image represents a bounded, homogenous universe as a sphere bobbing in the sea of the cosmos. The middle image is the general view of our universe as a bounded sphere that has matter inhomogeneity (galaxies, stars, etc). It is still an entity unto itself. The lower sphere is that of a unbounded, inhomogenous collection of matter that floats as a loose sphere in the cosmos. It is only this last version that is transparent to the 'stuff' of the cosmos (dark matter/energy?) and allows the matrix of the multiverse to flow within it.So, if my idea is right, then by studying dark mater/energy we could actually learn about the fundamental nature of the mulitiverse, that currently hypothetical area 'outside' our universe.
Edwin Rydberg
June 24, 2009
