Thursday, May 30, 2013

Supertiny and Superbig

Is our perception bounded by the scale and lifetime of things we can measure? If the multiverse theory is correct and there is empirical evidence that it is correct, then our universe or any universe is the smallest building block in that collection of universes. According to one theory there are many times more universes than the number of atoms in our observable universe. Now think of us as observers in our universe and the scale and the life time of things we can measure, from galaxy clusters with super massive black holes to fermions and hadrons. We know these exist, because we can measure their scale in some way, either direct or indirect. This is what our universe is composed of or so we think. What lies beyond our power of measurement? Is there a universe which completely lies within the confines of the smallest subatomic particle? A universe with a lifetime so small it destroys itself even before it can be measured? It's more of a question of philosophy in science rather than pure science but then science and philosophy do meet very often. A similar question can be asked on the other end of the size spectrum. Is there a universe so huge and with a lifetime so vast that we can't measure it? Beyond our universe, multiverses where we are relatively small like a fermion? A universe so vast that it has remained practically unchanged in the last 13.8 billion years our universe has been alive? To an observer in that huge universe are we like a tiny universe which would disappear in a millionth of the time it takes to blink his eyelid?

1 comment:

PavvyFloyd said...

I just read this...Good one! These are the very same thoughts that keep me reeling when I get started on that line...