Hawking and Hertog’s new theory plays off this idea, suggesting the world as we know it can be reduced mathematically into a simplified version of itself… The principle hails from string theory, the branch of physics trying to make general relativity and quantum mechanics coexist. Their idea hinges on the so-called “holographic principle.” As its name suggests, the principle argues that the universe is a hologram. Last July, Hawking and Hertog presented this new theory of the multiverse during a conference at the University of Cambridge to celebrate Hawking’s 75th birthday. He died never having achieved that goal, but leagues of physicists like Hawking followed in Einstein’s footsteps. But the concept doesn’t fit with quantum mechanics, the quirky physics that deals with the smallest of things - subatomic particles.Įinstein spent his life searching for a unified theory, a way to reconcile the biggest and smallest of things, general relativity and quantum mechanics. “As a consequence, Einstein’s theory breaks down in eternal inflation,” Hertog said.Įinstein’s theory of general relativity says space and time aren’t fixed, but bending to the forces of gravity. If the scale of different universes in the multiverse is large or infinite the theory can’t be tested.”Īlong with being difficult to support, the multiverse theory, which was co-developed by Hawking in 1983, doesn’t jibe with classical physics, namely the contributions of Einstein’s theory of general relativity as they relate to the structure and dynamics of the universe. “But I have never been a fan of the multiverse.
“The local laws of physics and chemistry can differ from one pocket universe to another, which together would form a multiverse,” Hertog said in a statement. More recently, the expansion has begun to speed up again as the repulsive effects of dark energy have come to dominate the expansion of the universe. The result would be a multiverse, a collection of bubblelike pockets, each defined by its own laws of physics.ĭiagram of evolution of the (observable part) of the universe from the Big Bang (left) to the present.Īfter the Big Bang and inflation, the expansion of the universe gradually slowed down for the next several billion years, as the matter in the universe pulled on itself via gravity.
If you asked an astrophysicist today to describe what happened after the Big Bang, he would likely start with the concept of “cosmic inflation.” Cosmic inflation argues that right after the Big Bang - we’re talking after a teeny fraction of a second - the universe expanded at breakneck speed like dough in an oven.īut this exponential expansion should create, due to quantum mechanics, regions where the universe continues to grow forever and regions where that growth stalls. Instead, the authors argue the Big Bang had a finite boundary, defined by string theory and holograms. The new report, co-authored by Belgian physicist Thomas Hertog, counters the longstanding idea that the universe will expand for eternity.
On Wednesday, the Journal of High Energy Physics published the British scientist’s final thoughts on the Big Bang, the leading theory for how the universe began. It turns out he had one more theory left in the locker. Before he passed away in March, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking had published more than 230 articles on the birth of the universe, black holes and quantum mechanics.
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