The concept of multiverse has beguiled scientists and philosophers since antiquity and still remains a topic, not lying on the ramparts but at the heart of physics and space research. While the ancient Indian scriptures elaborately hypothesize about unseen worlds, science is yet to unlock the mystery. Most scientists claim multiverse is a bizarre idea, while others are sympathetic to the bold scientific conjecture of the existence of multiple worlds. Sunday POST delves deep into the debate
Pragati Prava
Can you imagine another version of your identity or infinite versions of yourself in another universe or in infinite universes? Some of your replicas will be doing exactly what you are doing right now, while others will have different careers and life choices.
We see the universe wide open, a world with its stars and galaxies, and assume that this is the only world that exists. In reality, there exist many universes, invisible to our physical senses as well as scientific instruments, claim scientists.
What some western scientists had discovered in the 19th century, and which 21st century scientists like Stephen Hawking and Michio Kaku have been emphasising is a known story for a majority of Indians. The existence of multiple or innumerable universes is no news to those who are versed in the ancient scriptures.
The Bhagavad Gita, Vishnu Purana, Padma Purana, Vayu Purana, Bhagabata and other authoritative Hindu scriptures like the Atharva Veda have elaborately spoken of different universes.
Bhagirathi Mahapatra whose scholarly interest is focused on the ancient Indian scriptures, said: “Our scriptures mention ‘Triloka’ (three universes) – Nagaloka, Naraloka and Devaloka. They also mention Saptaloka (seven universes) – Bhu, Bhubah, Swah, Mah, Jana, Tapah and Satah.”
Mahapatra who lives in Berhampur quoted the Oriya Bhagabata: “Brahmanda mala mala hoi, to loma kupe jhulu thai,” meaning a series of universes hangs from the cells of the creator, thereby clearly establishing the theory of multiverse.
“Almost all our ancient texts agree that multiverses do exist. While science also assumes the existence of multiple worlds, there must be some truth. The idea must not have come from the blue,” he said, adding that he personally believes in the existence of other universes.
Mahapatra quoted Sri Aurobindo too: “The place where you were in your dreams is as much a world of fact and reality as is the material world and its happenings have sometimes a great effect on this world…There also exist many worlds of varying gradations of consciousness which are invisible to our physical senses as well as our scientific instruments. A world in occult terminology is akin to an energy formation or a formation of consciousness, somewhat like a virtual world populated by beings of its own kind, where the laws of physics are more flexible and where the orders of Time and Space are unlike ours…Our dreams are transcriptions of travels and interactions in these worlds. A Yogi who gains occult insight is able to see this vast structure of the universes. It is precisely this vision which has been described in Chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita.”
The theory may be the beginning of the biggest scientific adventure, Mahapatra added.
Even though no concrete evidence has yet been found, the current scientific opinion on the concept of multiverse is that it is plausible. Most scientists say the concept is in the realm of conjecture, while others claim that multiverses exist.
According to some scientists at the Institute of Physics in Bhubaneswar (IOPB), as an initial thought, the idea of multiverse is great. However, it fails to go any further and thus remains in the realm of conjecture. It provides scientists interesting ideas, but that is where its strength and reliability as a system of thought designed to study and understand the objective basis of reality ends.
In an attempt to simplify the concept, deputy director of Pathani Samanta Planetarium Subhendu Kumar Patnaik explained the origin of the universe. “The Big Bang theory is an effort to explain the beginning of our universe. Discoveries in astronomy and physics have shown that our universe has a beginning. The Big Bang theory is an effort to explain what happened during and after that moment,” Patnaik said.
According to the theory, our universe sprang into existence around 13.7 billion years ago. All the matter and energy were at a point and suddenly started to expand. Our universe is thought to have begun as an infinitesimally small, infinitely hot, infinitely dense, something – a singularity. Nobody knows where it came from. However, after its initial appearance, it apparently inflated (the ‘Big Bang’), expanded and cooled, going from very small and very hot to the size and temperature of our current universe.
It continues to expand and cool to this day (at this point, the expansion has slowed down) and we are inside it. All the creatures are living on a unique planet, circling around the sun and clustered together with billions of stars in a galaxy soaring through the cosmos. All of them are inside an expanding universe that began as an infinitesimal singularity. This is the Big Bang theory – a giant expansion (which still continues) and not explosion.
Talking on the theory of multiuniverse, the scientists at the IOPB said, if we define the ‘universe’ as all there is or all that exists, then there can be only one universe. But if we define universe as all we can ever see, then many universes may indeed exist.
They added, the theory posits that when the universe grew exponentially in the first tiny fraction of a second after the Big Bang, some parts of space-time expanded more quickly than others. This could have created ‘bubbles’ of space-time that then developed into other universes. While the expansion is eternal and still continues, the pace of inflation slows down in the bubbles (for reasons unknown) to make it bio-habitable. While the known universe has its own laws of physics, other universes could have different laws.
The strongest support for the concept of a multiverse came from the Stanford University physicist Linde. When Linde began research on inflationary theory he was struck by the incredible regularity of the universe. He has explained that the universe’s regular distribution of matter and heat, save for structures like galaxies, is a cosmological principle. Because inflation created a stable, uniform cosmos there is no reason to think that it could only happen once.
Bishnu Parija, a retired Scientific Officer at the Institute of Physics said: “In the multiverse scenario, our universe is but one of a vast, variegated ensemble of other universes. Number and nature of forces, and constituent particles in other universes may be different from our universe. These other universes may have existed at different times and evolved differently. We cannot observe these universes as these universes are causally disconnected from our universe. The idea of multiverse elevates quantum theory to supreme status transcending space and time.”
“I personally find the idea outlandish as we cannot establish the assumption in our present laboratories,” Parija added.
Sushant Kishore Khuntia, a science enthusiast, said he was a strong believer in the existence of multiverse. “The idea is that our universe is only one in the cosmos full of other universes. They have their own laws that may be similar to ours, or else may be totally different. Some may be extremely hot and lifeless, others may be dark and cold, while the rest may be inhabited by fascinating creatures,” said Khuntia, an associate professor of agribusiness management at Utkal University.
“If we glance through the past we can see that a number of theories which once appeared speculative eventually became established facts. Centuries ago, it was speculated that the earth was round, and today it stands as an established fact,” he added.
It is a general tendency to term an unproved concept unscientific or mere metaphysical speculation. At a point, a concept might have appeared a logical perspective or proposition. There are possibilities of testing these propositions with the subsequent development of scientific equipment which has happened at an amazing pace over the centuries,” Khuntia pointed out.
He, however, opined that cosmology has a special problem. “In astronomy, you will come across millions of stars and galaxies at different stages of their evolution and observing them is altogether a very difficult experiment. It is tough when it comes to other universes beyond the boundaries of what we can see, both in time and space.”
“There is much more to be done to reach those alien worlds but hypothesising that the multiverse does not exist spells the end of science,” he added.
