Is our universe dying? Could there be other universes?In Parallel Worlds, world-renowned physicist and bestselling author Michio Kaku—an author who “has a knack for bringing the most ethereal ideas down to earth” (Wall Street Journal)—takes readers on a fascinating tour of cosmology, M-theory, and its implications for the fate of the universe.In his first book of physics since Hyperspace, Michio Kaku begins by describing the extraordinary advances that have transformed cosmology over the last century, and particularly over the last decade, forcing scientists around the world to rethink our understanding of the birth of the universe, and its ultimate fate. In Dr. Kaku’s eyes, we are living in a golden age of physics, as new discoveries from the WMAP and COBE satellites and the Hubble space telescope have given us unprecedented pictures of our universe in its infancy.As astronomers wade through the avalanche of data from the WMAP satellite, a new cosmological picture is emerging. So far, the leading theory about the birth of the universe is the “inflationary universe theory,” a major refinement on the big bang theory. In this theory, our universe may be but one in a multiverse, floating like a bubble in an infinite sea of bubble universes, with new universes being created all the time. A parallel universe may well hover a mere millimeter from our own. The very idea of parallel universes and the string theory that can explain their existence was once viewed with suspicion by scientists, seen as the province of mystics, charlatans, and cranks. But today, physicists overwhelmingly support string-theory, and its latest iteration, M-theory, as it is this one theory that, if proven correct, would reconcile the four forces of the universe simply and elegantly, and answer the question “What happened before the big bang?”Already, Kaku explains, the world’s foremost physicists and astronomers are searching for ways to test the theory of the multiverse using highly sophisticated wave detectors, gravity lenses, satellites, and telescopes. The implications of M-theory are fascinating and endless. If parallel worlds do exist, Kaku speculates, in time, perhaps a trillion years or more from now, as appears likely, when our universe grows cold and dark in what scientists describe as a big freeze, advanced civilizations may well find a way to escape our universe in a kind of “inter-dimensional lifeboat.” An unforgettable journey into black holes and time machines, alternate universes, and multidimensional space, Parallel Worlds gives us a compelling portrait of the revolution sweeping the world of cosmology.
Author(s): Michio Kaku
Edition: 1 st
Publisher: Doubleday
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 447
Tags: Физика;Популярная физика;
Cover......Page 1
CONTENTS......Page 10
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 12
PREFACE......Page 16
PART I THE UNIVERSE......Page 20
1 Baby Pictures of the Universe......Page 22
THE WMAP SATELLITE......Page 25
THE AGE OF THE UNIVERSE......Page 29
INFLATION......Page 32
THE MULTIVERSE......Page 33
M-THEORY AND THE ELEVENTH DIMENSION......Page 35
THE END OF THE UNIVERSE STRING COUNTERPART......Page 37
ESCAPE INTO HYPERSPACE......Page 39
2 The Paradoxical Universe......Page 41
BENTLEY’S PARADOX......Page 44
OLBERS’ PARADOX......Page 45
EINSTEIN THE REBEL......Page 49
PARADOXES OF RELATIVITY......Page 50
FORCE AS THE BENDING OF SPACE......Page 54
THE BIRTH OF COSMOLOGY......Page 55
THE FUTURE OF THE UNIVERSE......Page 59
3 The Big Bang......Page 64
EDWIN HUBBLE, PATRICIAN ASTRONOMER......Page 65
DOPPLER EFFECT AND THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE......Page 67
HUBBLE’S LAW......Page 69
THE BIG BANG......Page 70
GEORGE GAMOW, COSMIC JESTER......Page 71
NUCLEAR KITCHEN OF THE UNIVERSE......Page 74
MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION......Page 75
FRED HOYLE, CONTRARIAN......Page 77
STEADY STATE THEORY......Page 78
BBC LECTURES......Page 80
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS IN THE STARS......Page 81
EVIDENCE AGAINST THE STEADY STATE......Page 82
HOW STARS ARE BORN......Page 84
BIRD DROPPINGS AND THE BIG BANG......Page 87
PERSONAL AFTERSHOCKS OF THE BIG BANG......Page 88
OMEGA AND DARK MATTER......Page 89
COBE SATELLITE......Page 93
4 Inflation and Parallel Universes......Page 95
BIRTH OF INFLATION......Page 97
SEARCH FOR UNIFICATION......Page 98
UNIFICATION AT THE BIG BANG......Page 100
FALSE VACUUM......Page 104
MONOPOLE PROBLEM......Page 105
FLATNESS PROBLEM......Page 106
HORIZON PROBLEM......Page 107
REACTION TO INFLATION......Page 108
CHAOTIC INFLATION AND PARALLEL UNIVERSES......Page 111
THE UNIVERSE FROM NOTHING......Page 112
WHAT MIGHT OTHER UNIVERSES LOOK LIKE?......Page 115
SYMMETRY AND THE STANDARD MODEL......Page 117
TESTABLE PREDICTIONS......Page 120
SUPERNOVAE—RETURN OF LAMBDA......Page 121
PHASES OF THE UNIVERSE......Page 123
THE FUTURE......Page 126
PART II THE MULTIVERSE......Page 128
5 Dimensional Portals and Time Travel......Page 130
BLACK HOLES......Page 133
EINSTEIN-ROSEN BRIDGE......Page 137
ROTATING BLACK HOLES......Page 140
OBSERVING BLACK HOLES......Page 141
GAMMA RAY BURSTERS......Page 144
VAN STOCKUM’S TIME MACHINE......Page 147
GÖDEL UNIVERSE......Page 148
THORNE TIME MACHINE......Page 150
PROBLEMS WITH NEGATIVE ENERGY......Page 152
A UNIVERSE IN YOUR BEDROOM......Page 155
GOTT TIME MACHINE......Page 159
TIME PARADOXES......Page 161
6 Parallel Quantum Universes......Page 165
TWILIGHT ZONE......Page 167
MONSTER MIND: JOHN WHEELER......Page 169
DETERMINISM OR UNCERTAINTY?......Page 172
TREES IN THE FOREST......Page 175
THE CAT PROBLEM......Page 177
THE BOMB......Page 180
SUM OVER PATHS......Page 182
WIGNER’S FRIEND......Page 184
DECOHERENCE......Page 185
MANY WORLDS......Page 186
IT FROM BIT......Page 190
QUANTUM COMPUTING AND TELEPORTATION......Page 191
QUANTUM TELEPORTATION......Page 193
WAVE FUNCTION OF THE UNIVERSE......Page 197
7 M-Theory: The Mother of All Strings......Page 200
M-THEORY......Page 204
HISTORY OF STRING THEORY......Page 206
TEN DIMENSIONS......Page 211
STRING BANDWAGON......Page 214
COSMIC MUSIC......Page 215
PROBLEMS IN HYPERSPACE......Page 217
WHY STRINGS?......Page 220
SUPERSYMMETRY......Page 222
DERIVING THE STANDARD MODEL......Page 225
M-THEORY......Page 226
MYSTERY OF SUPERGRAVITY......Page 229
ELEVENTH DIMENSION......Page 230
BRANE WORLD......Page 233
DUALITY......Page 234
LISA RANDALL......Page 235
COLLIDING UNIVERSES......Page 240
MINI–BLACK HOLES......Page 245
BLACK HOLES AND THE INFORMATION PARADOX......Page 247
THE HOLOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE......Page 249
IS THE UNIVERSE A COMPUTER PROGRAM?......Page 252
THE END?......Page 256
8 A Designer Universe?......Page 260
COSMIC ACCIDENTS......Page 265
THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE......Page 266
MULTIVERSE......Page 268
EVOLUTION OF UNIVERSES......Page 273
9 Searching for Echoes from the Eleventh Dimension......Page 275
GPS AND RELATIVITY......Page 276
GRAVITY WAVE DETECTORS......Page 277
LIGO GRAVITY WAVE DETECTOR......Page 278
LISA GRAVITY WAVE DETECTOR......Page 281
EINSTEIN LENSES AND RINGS......Page 282
DARK MATTER IN YOUR LIVING ROOM......Page 285
SUSY (SUPERSYMMETRIC) DARK MATTER......Page 286
SLOAN SKY SURVEY......Page 287
COMPENSATING FOR THERMAL FLUCTUATIONS......Page 290
LASHING RADIO TELESCOPES TOGETHER......Page 292
MEASURING THE ELEVENTH DIMENSION......Page 293
LARGE HADRON COLLIDER......Page 295
TABLETOP ACCELERATORS......Page 299
THE FUTURE......Page 301
PART III ESCAPE INTO HYPERSPACE......Page 304
10 The End of Everything......Page 306
THREE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS......Page 308
THE BIG CRUNCH......Page 310
FIVE STAGES OF THE UNIVERSE......Page 311
CAN INTELLIGENCE SURVIVE?......Page 318
LEAVING THE UNIVERSE......Page 321
11 Escaping the Universe......Page 323
TYPE I, II, AND III CIVILIZATIONS......Page 326
TYPE I CIVILIZATION......Page 330
TYPE II CIVILIZATION......Page 332
TYPE III CIVILIZATION......Page 334
TYPE IV CIVILIZATION......Page 336
INFORMATION CLASSIFICATION......Page 337
TYPES A TO Z......Page 338
STEP ONE: CREATE AND TEST A THEORY OF EVERYTHING......Page 340
STEP TWO: FIND NATURALLY OCCURRING WORMHOLES AND WHITE HOLES......Page 342
STEP THREE: SEND PROBES THROUGH A BLACK HOLE......Page 343
STEP FOUR: CONSTRUCT A BLACK HOLE IN SLOW MOTION......Page 344
STEP FIVE: CREATE A BABY UNIVERSE......Page 346
STEP SIX: CREATE HUGE ATOM SMASHERS......Page 349
STEP SEVEN: CREATE IMPLOSION MECHANISMS......Page 351
STEP EIGHT: BUILD A WARP DRIVE MACHINE......Page 353
STEP NINE: USE NEGATIVE ENERGY FROM SQUEEZED STATES......Page 355
STEP ELEVEN: THE LAST HOPE......Page 357
12 Beyond the Multiverse......Page 362
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE......Page 364
COPERNICAN PRINCIPLE VS. ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE......Page 366
QUANTUM MEANING......Page 368
MEANING IN THE MULTIVERSE......Page 370
WHAT PHYSICISTS THINK ABOUT THE MEANING OF THE UNIVERSE......Page 373
CREATING OUR OWN MEANING......Page 377
TRANSITION TO TYPE I CIVILIZATION......Page 378
NOTES......Page 382
GLOSSARY......Page 400
RECOMMENDED READING......Page 422
INDEX......Page 426
