12-13-2013, 04:00 PM
Are we living in a HOLOGRAM? Physicists believe our universe could just be a projection of another cosmos
Holographic principle claims gravity comes from thin, vibrating strings
These strings are holograms of events that take place in a flatter cosmos
According to this theory, everything we experience can be described as events that take place in this flatter location
This is the first time the validity of the model has been mathematically tested
By Ellie Zolfagharifard
The universe is a hologram and everything you can see - including this article and the device you are reading it on - is a mere projection.
This is according to a controversial model proposed in 1997 by theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena.
Until now the bizarre theory had never been tested, but recent mathematical models suggest that the mind-boggling principle could be true.
A growing black hole
The holographic model suggests gravity in the universe comes from thin, vibrating strings. These strings are holograms of events that take place in a simpler, flatter cosmos
According to the theory, gravity in the universe comes from thin, vibrating strings. These strings are holograms of events that take place in a simpler, flatter cosmos.
More...
Forget the Big Bang - 'Rainbow Gravity' theory suggests our universe has NO beginning and stretches out infinitely
Has Saturn given birth to a new moon? Cassini probe spots strange object at the edge of planet's rings
Professor Maldacena's model suggests that the universe exists in nine dimensions of space and one of time.
Now Japanese researchers have attempted to tackle this problem by providing mathematical evidence that the holographic principle might be correct, according to a report in Nature.
This artwork shows a star being distorted by its close passage to a supermassive black hole
Researchers in Japan have provided mathematical evidence that the holographic principle might be true
THE HOLOGRAPHIC PRINCIPLE
The holographic principle claims gravity in the universe comes from thin, vibrating strings.
These strings are holograms of events that take place in a simpler, flatter cosmos.
The principle suggests that, like the security chip on your credit card, there is a two-dimensional surface that contains all the information needed to describe a three-dimensional object - which in this case is our universe.
In essence, the theory claims that data containing a description of a volume of space - such as a human or a comet - could be hidden in a region of this flattened, 'real' version of the universe.
In a black hole, for instance, all the objects that ever fall into it would be entirely contained in surface fluctuations, almost like a piece of computer memory on contained in a chip.
In a larger sense, the theory suggests that the entire universe can be seen as a 'two-dimensional structure projected onto a cosmological horizon' - or in simpler terms, a projection.
If we could understand the laws that govern physics on that distant surface, the principle suggests we would grasp all there is to know about reality.
The holographic principle suggests that, like the security chip on your credit card, there is a two-dimensional surface that contains all the information needed to describe a three-dimensional object - which in this case is our universe.
In essence, the principle claims that data containing a description of a volume of space - such as a human or a comet - could be hidden in a region of this flattened, 'real' version of the universe.
In a black hole, for instance, all the objects that ever fall into it would be entirely contained in surface fluctuations.
This means that the objects would be stored almost as 'memory' or fragment of data rather than a physical object in existence.
In a larger sense, the theory suggests that the entire universe can be seen as a 'two-dimensional structure projected onto a cosmological horizon' - or in simpler terms, the universe we believe we inhabit is a 3D projection of a 2D alternate universe.
In a paper posted on the arXiv repository, Yoshifumi Hyakutake of Ibaraki University in Japan calculated the internal energy of a black hole in an attempt provide mathematical evidence for this holographic principle.
In addition to this he explored the boundaries of a specific black hole as well as the effects of ‘virtual particles’, a type of particle that is believed to continuously pop in and out of existence.
In a separate paper, Professor Hyakutake calculated the energy contained inside of the alternate flatter cosmos with no gravity.
Surprisingly, the computer calculations of the theoretical universe and the black hole's boundaries matched, providing what some say is ‘compelling’ evidence of the dual nature of the universe.
Professor Maldacena has said that the numerical proof that these two seemingly disparate worlds are identical provides hope that the gravitational properties of our universe can someday be explained by quantum theory.
A team of physicists has provided some of the clearest evidence yet that our Universe could be just one big projection.
Best evidence yet that our Universe is a hologram
Whole protein hormone made from scratch in a testube
Water gushes seasonally on Mars
In 1997, theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena proposed1 that an audacious model of the Universe in which gravity arises from infinitesimally thin, vibrating strings could be reinterpreted in terms of well-established physics. The mathematically intricate world of strings, which exist in nine dimensions of space plus one of time, would be merely a hologram: the real action would play out in a simpler, flatter cosmos where there is no gravity.
Maldacena's idea thrilled physicists because it offered a way to put the popular but still unproven theory of strings on solid footing — and because it solved apparent inconsistencies between quantum physics and Einstein's theory of gravity. It provided physicists with a mathematical Rosetta stone, a 'duality', that allowed them to translate back and forth between the two languages, and solve problems in one model that seemed intractable in the other and vice versa. But although the validity of Maldacena's ideas has pretty much been taken for granted ever since, a rigorous proof has been elusive.
Related stories
Black holes shrink but endure
How to see quantum gravity in Big Bang traces
Theoretical physics: The origins of space and time
More related stories
In two papers posted on the arXiv repository, Yoshifumi Hyakutake of Ibaraki University in Japan and his colleagues now provide, if not an actual proof, at least compelling evidence that Maldacena’s conjecture is true.
In one paper2, Hyakutake computes the internal energy of a black hole, the position of its event horizon (the boundary between the black hole and the rest of the Universe), its entropy and other properties based on the predictions of string theory as well as the effects of so-called virtual particles that continuously pop into and out of existence. In the other3, he and his collaborators calculate the internal energy of the corresponding lower-dimensional cosmos with no gravity. The two computer calculations match.
“It seems to be a correct computation,” says Maldacena, who is now at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and who did not contribute to the team's work.
Regime change
The findings “are an interesting way to test many ideas in quantum gravity and string theory”, Maldacena adds. The two papers, he notes, are the culmination of a series of articles contributed by the Japanese team over the past few years. “The whole sequence of papers is very nice because it tests the dual [nature of the universes] in regimes where there are no analytic tests.”
“They have numerically confirmed, perhaps for the first time, something we were fairly sure had to be true, but was still a conjecture — namely that the thermodynamics of certain black holes can be reproduced from a lower-dimensional universe,” says Leonard Susskind, a theoretical physicist at Stanford University in California who was among the first theoreticians to explore the idea of holographic universes.
Neither of the model universes explored by the Japanese team resembles our own, Maldacena notes. The cosmos with a black hole has ten dimensions, with eight of them forming an eight-dimensional sphere. The lower-dimensional, gravity-free one has but a single dimension, and its menagerie of quantum particles resembles a group of idealized springs, or harmonic oscillators, attached to one another.
Nevertheless, says Maldacena, the numerical proof that these two seemingly disparate worlds are actually identical gives hope that the gravitational properties of our Universe can one day be explained by a simpler cosmos purely in terms of quantum theory.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/a...z2nO2897VU
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Holographic principle claims gravity comes from thin, vibrating strings
These strings are holograms of events that take place in a flatter cosmos
According to this theory, everything we experience can be described as events that take place in this flatter location
This is the first time the validity of the model has been mathematically tested
By Ellie Zolfagharifard
The universe is a hologram and everything you can see - including this article and the device you are reading it on - is a mere projection.
This is according to a controversial model proposed in 1997 by theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena.
Until now the bizarre theory had never been tested, but recent mathematical models suggest that the mind-boggling principle could be true.
A growing black hole
The holographic model suggests gravity in the universe comes from thin, vibrating strings. These strings are holograms of events that take place in a simpler, flatter cosmos
According to the theory, gravity in the universe comes from thin, vibrating strings. These strings are holograms of events that take place in a simpler, flatter cosmos.
More...
Forget the Big Bang - 'Rainbow Gravity' theory suggests our universe has NO beginning and stretches out infinitely
Has Saturn given birth to a new moon? Cassini probe spots strange object at the edge of planet's rings
Professor Maldacena's model suggests that the universe exists in nine dimensions of space and one of time.
Now Japanese researchers have attempted to tackle this problem by providing mathematical evidence that the holographic principle might be correct, according to a report in Nature.
This artwork shows a star being distorted by its close passage to a supermassive black hole
Researchers in Japan have provided mathematical evidence that the holographic principle might be true
THE HOLOGRAPHIC PRINCIPLE
The holographic principle claims gravity in the universe comes from thin, vibrating strings.
These strings are holograms of events that take place in a simpler, flatter cosmos.
The principle suggests that, like the security chip on your credit card, there is a two-dimensional surface that contains all the information needed to describe a three-dimensional object - which in this case is our universe.
In essence, the theory claims that data containing a description of a volume of space - such as a human or a comet - could be hidden in a region of this flattened, 'real' version of the universe.
In a black hole, for instance, all the objects that ever fall into it would be entirely contained in surface fluctuations, almost like a piece of computer memory on contained in a chip.
In a larger sense, the theory suggests that the entire universe can be seen as a 'two-dimensional structure projected onto a cosmological horizon' - or in simpler terms, a projection.
If we could understand the laws that govern physics on that distant surface, the principle suggests we would grasp all there is to know about reality.
The holographic principle suggests that, like the security chip on your credit card, there is a two-dimensional surface that contains all the information needed to describe a three-dimensional object - which in this case is our universe.
In essence, the principle claims that data containing a description of a volume of space - such as a human or a comet - could be hidden in a region of this flattened, 'real' version of the universe.
In a black hole, for instance, all the objects that ever fall into it would be entirely contained in surface fluctuations.
This means that the objects would be stored almost as 'memory' or fragment of data rather than a physical object in existence.
In a larger sense, the theory suggests that the entire universe can be seen as a 'two-dimensional structure projected onto a cosmological horizon' - or in simpler terms, the universe we believe we inhabit is a 3D projection of a 2D alternate universe.
In a paper posted on the arXiv repository, Yoshifumi Hyakutake of Ibaraki University in Japan calculated the internal energy of a black hole in an attempt provide mathematical evidence for this holographic principle.
In addition to this he explored the boundaries of a specific black hole as well as the effects of ‘virtual particles’, a type of particle that is believed to continuously pop in and out of existence.
In a separate paper, Professor Hyakutake calculated the energy contained inside of the alternate flatter cosmos with no gravity.
Surprisingly, the computer calculations of the theoretical universe and the black hole's boundaries matched, providing what some say is ‘compelling’ evidence of the dual nature of the universe.
Professor Maldacena has said that the numerical proof that these two seemingly disparate worlds are identical provides hope that the gravitational properties of our universe can someday be explained by quantum theory.
A team of physicists has provided some of the clearest evidence yet that our Universe could be just one big projection.
Best evidence yet that our Universe is a hologram
Whole protein hormone made from scratch in a testube
Water gushes seasonally on Mars
In 1997, theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena proposed1 that an audacious model of the Universe in which gravity arises from infinitesimally thin, vibrating strings could be reinterpreted in terms of well-established physics. The mathematically intricate world of strings, which exist in nine dimensions of space plus one of time, would be merely a hologram: the real action would play out in a simpler, flatter cosmos where there is no gravity.
Maldacena's idea thrilled physicists because it offered a way to put the popular but still unproven theory of strings on solid footing — and because it solved apparent inconsistencies between quantum physics and Einstein's theory of gravity. It provided physicists with a mathematical Rosetta stone, a 'duality', that allowed them to translate back and forth between the two languages, and solve problems in one model that seemed intractable in the other and vice versa. But although the validity of Maldacena's ideas has pretty much been taken for granted ever since, a rigorous proof has been elusive.
Related stories
Black holes shrink but endure
How to see quantum gravity in Big Bang traces
Theoretical physics: The origins of space and time
More related stories
In two papers posted on the arXiv repository, Yoshifumi Hyakutake of Ibaraki University in Japan and his colleagues now provide, if not an actual proof, at least compelling evidence that Maldacena’s conjecture is true.
In one paper2, Hyakutake computes the internal energy of a black hole, the position of its event horizon (the boundary between the black hole and the rest of the Universe), its entropy and other properties based on the predictions of string theory as well as the effects of so-called virtual particles that continuously pop into and out of existence. In the other3, he and his collaborators calculate the internal energy of the corresponding lower-dimensional cosmos with no gravity. The two computer calculations match.
“It seems to be a correct computation,” says Maldacena, who is now at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and who did not contribute to the team's work.
Regime change
The findings “are an interesting way to test many ideas in quantum gravity and string theory”, Maldacena adds. The two papers, he notes, are the culmination of a series of articles contributed by the Japanese team over the past few years. “The whole sequence of papers is very nice because it tests the dual [nature of the universes] in regimes where there are no analytic tests.”
“They have numerically confirmed, perhaps for the first time, something we were fairly sure had to be true, but was still a conjecture — namely that the thermodynamics of certain black holes can be reproduced from a lower-dimensional universe,” says Leonard Susskind, a theoretical physicist at Stanford University in California who was among the first theoreticians to explore the idea of holographic universes.
Neither of the model universes explored by the Japanese team resembles our own, Maldacena notes. The cosmos with a black hole has ten dimensions, with eight of them forming an eight-dimensional sphere. The lower-dimensional, gravity-free one has but a single dimension, and its menagerie of quantum particles resembles a group of idealized springs, or harmonic oscillators, attached to one another.
Nevertheless, says Maldacena, the numerical proof that these two seemingly disparate worlds are actually identical gives hope that the gravitational properties of our Universe can one day be explained by a simpler cosmos purely in terms of quantum theory.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/a...z2nO2897VU
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook