In Search of the Multiverse (eBook)

JOHN GRIBBIN is one of today's greatest writers of popular science and the author of bestselling books including In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, Science: A History, and Deep Simplicity. He trained as an astrophysicist at Cambridge University and is currently Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex.

Acknowledgements.Preface: The Search.Introduction: In an Infinite Universe, Anything Is Possible.1. The Coming of the Quantum Cats.Neither wave nor particle; A quantum of uncertainty; The only mystery; Interpreting the unimaginable; The mother of all quantum cats; The many worlds of Hugh Everett; The branching tree of history; Everett comes in from the cold.2. Cosmic Coincidences Revisited.The carbon coincidence; Why is the Universe so big?; Nuclear efficiency; The incredible lightness of gravity; Cosmology's coincidental constant; Ripples in a smooth cosmic sea; Three dimensions good, more dimensions bad; The lottery of life.3. Quantum Bits and Time Slips.Being in two minds; In search of the quantum computer; The killer application; Practicalities; Where does it all happen?; A metaphor for the Multiverse; When does it all happen?;Timeslips; Broader horizons.4. Infinite in All Directions.Arrows of time; The heat death of the Universe; Every conceivable accident; Time and distance; Time and thermodynamics; The cosmic arrow and the gravitational sink; Bouncing back?; Back to the future.5. (Just Like) Starting Over.The particle connection; Nothing comes from nothing; Inflating the Universe; The return of the Steady State?; Bubbles on the River of Time; Eternal inflation and simple beginnings; Boltzmann’s brain, the arrow of time, and causal patch physics; To infinity – and beyond!6. The String's the Thing.Gravity grabs attention; Two approaches plus a third way; Compact but perfectly formed; The magic of M; Revisiting the incredible weakness of gravity; When worlds collide; By its bootstraps; The bottomless pit; There's lots of places like home; Exploring the cosmic landscape; The return of Schrödinger’s cat.7. Faking It? Or Making It?Is it science?; Inside information; The fakers; Black holes and baby universes; Selecting universes naturally; A new perspective; Makers of universes; Evolution in designer universes; Universes by design.Further Reading.Glossary.Index.