The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos 0th Edition by Brian Greene (PDF)

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The bestselling author of The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos tackles perhaps the most mind-bending question in modern physics and cosmology: Is our universe the only universe?There was a time when “universe” meant all there is. Everything. Yet, a number of theories are converging on the possibility that our universe may be but one among many parallel universes populating a vast multiverse. Here, Briane Greene, one of our foremost physicists and science writers, takes us on a breathtaking journey to a multiverse comprising an endless series of big bangs, a multiverse with duplicates of every one of us, a multiverse populated by vast sheets of spacetime, a multiverse in which all we consider real are holographic illusions, and even a multiverse made purely of math–and reveals the reality hidden within each.Using his trademark wit and precision, Greene presents a thrilling survey of cutting-edge physics and confronts the inevitable question: How can fundamental science progress if great swaths of reality lie beyond our reach? The Hidden Reality is a remarkable adventure through a world more vast and strange than anything we could have imagined.

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⭐Following up his two previous bestsellers, The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos, Columbia University Professor of Physics and Mathematics Brian Greene has carried on in his attempt to enlighten the lay reader to leading edge developments in scientific research into the deepest mysteries of both the micro-world and the macro-world of not only our own universe, but other universes that may exist beyond our current ability to contact them.Including 30 pages of notes, mostly for the more technically inclined, an extensive index, and using metaphor, analogy, historical anecdotes, and a touch of humour, Professor Greene looks at the latest theoretical thinking and experimental analyses to give, as he says in the Preface, “…a broadly accessible account of some of the strangest and, should they prove correct, most revealing insights of modern physics. Many of the concepts require the reader to abandon comfortable modes of thought and to embrace unanticipated realms of reality.”What spurred Greene to give us an up-to-date account of developments in fundamental theoretical physics is that they have led investigators to the serious consideration of different types of parallel universes. In the book, he identifies 9 varieties of what are called “multiverses.” And, what is so amazing to Greene and to his colleagues around the world is that “…all of the parallel-universe proposals that we will take seriously (in the book) emerge unbidden from the mathematics of theories developed to explain conventional data and observation.”Proceeding like a class in the conceptual, non-technical overview of contemporary physics, displaying his knack for making difficult concepts easy to understand by relating them to common, everyday examples from life, and ascribing nomenclature generally used in the field of cosmology, Dr. Greene first examines what is known as the Quilted Multiverse. He begins the discussion with a review of the Big Bang and Einsteinian relativity to illustrate “…that basic physical principles establish that if the cosmos is infinitely large, it is home to infinitely many parallel worlds – some identical to ours, some differing from ours, many bearing no resemblance to our world at all.”Because astronomers have calculated that we can only see out from earth about 41 billion light-years (called the cosmic horizon – an enormous distance, but certainly less than infinite), if the universe itself is infinite, there must be an infinite amount of other regions of space that have their own cosmic horizons. If those regions are sufficiently distant from each other, such an array would look like a patchwork quilt of an infinite number of finite regions that are individual universes themselves. Such a scenario is called a Patchwork or Quilted Multiverse. In such a multiverse, there would be endless doppelgangers – exact, repetitive reproductions of everything we experience, even ourselves.Greene’s second type of multiverse is called the Inflationary Multiverse. This one is based on the continual expansion of our universe that would eternally produce bubble universes, and only one of those would be the one we see. We can think of the bubble universes in the Inflationary Multiverse as the holes in an ever-expanding Swiss cheese cosmos.Professor Greene’s third and fourth types of multiverses derive from String theory and from the braneworlds of M-theory. In Chapter 4, he reiterates from his previous books a clear explanation of various aspects of quantum mechanics resulting in String theory, extra spatial dimensions, singularities, and black holes that lead us into Chapter 5’s discussion of the Brane Multiverse and the Cyclic Multiverse. The former consists of three-dimensional branes (don’t worry – Greene explains what branes are) that float in higher dimensions with other branes, and the latter derives from the collisions of those braneworlds that result in new universes with their own big bangs.We are next introduced to something called the Landscape Multiverse. It derives from a combination of the Inflationary Multiverse and String theory.In 1998, two separate teams of astronomers measured a positive but tiny number for Einstein’s cosmological constant – a value that gives us the amount of dark, invisible energy thought to be existing uniformly throughout space. Dark energy governs the repulsive gravitational force that drives our universe’s inflation. Contrary to what we would expect – that after the Big Bang the inflation of the universe would gradually slow down – the measurements indicated that for approximately the past half of our universe’s life its rate of expansion has been accelerating.String theory tells us that each of the ever-increasing number of bubble universes in an Inflationary Multiverse contains a different configuration of extra dimensions “…providing a cosmological framework that realises all possibilities.” It also tells us that different values of the cosmological constant in each bubble universe give rise to “…bubbles inside of bubbles inside of bubbles…” When combined with accelerating expansion, this bubble tunnelling process provides an entire “landscape” of different universes. Hence, the totality is called a Landscape Multiverse.50-page long, Chapter 8 describes what’s called the Quantum Multiverse – a multiverse that emerges directly from quantum mechanics. Greene reminds us of the double-slit experiment and its consequential interference pattern in order to guide us through his explanations of a particle’s probability wave and Niels Bohr’s Copenhagen Interpretation which dictate that the act of measurement/observation results in the collapse of the wave function locating only one position for a given particle – one definite, observed reality outcome.Professor Greene then takes us to the realm of the Holographic Multiverse where reality takes place on a universe’s distant boundary surface and projects its information into the 3D world we know and experience as a kind of holographic movie. We can think of this as we would think of the information in an architect’s blueprints being translated into the actual physical realisation of a building. In other words, the boundary surface of a universe can be thought of as a physically equivalent parallel universe.Greene adds, “That familiar reality may be mirrored, or perhaps even produced, by phenomena taking place on a faraway, lower-dimensional surface ranks among the most unexpected developments in all of theoretical physics…. Looking to the future, I suspect that the holographic principle will be a beacon for physicists well into the twenty-first century.”The 8th and 9th multiverses identified in the book involve both actual and computer simulations. The 8th variety is called a Simulated Multiverse. Here, Greene takes a bold step in contemplating universe creation by future humans in the possession of very advanced technologies. There are two types of these we can think of: (1) usual, physical universes, and (2) virtual, computer-generated universes. The first involves artificially producing a white hole that spews out matter. The second is akin to the conceptual presentation in movies like The Matrix, The Thirteenth Floor, and Vanilla Sky.The 9th and final multiverse discussed is what Professor Greene calls the Ultimate Multiverse. It is his own rationalisation for the existence of a multiverse, independent of being a by-product of quantum mechanics, inflationary cosmology, String theory, or any other such applications that led indirectly to the previous 8 types of multiverses. He surmises, “Maybe math is more than just a description of reality. Maybe math is reality.” Perhaps, “Different collections of mathematical equations are different universes. The Ultimate Multiverse is thus the by-product of this perspective on mathematics.” (M.I.T.’s Max Tegmark calls this the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis.)Greene further posits, “Mathematical existence is synonymous with physical existence. And since this would be true for any and all math, this provides another road leading us to the Ultimate Multiverse.” It’s another way of saying that every possible universe we can imagine, and therefore describe with a mathematical equation, is, somewhere and at some time, a real universe.Greene ends with questions like, “Can scientific theories that invoke a multiverse be tested?” And, “Should we believe mathematics?” In fact, he admits that math is central to all he discusses. The multiverse theories examined in his book “rely on a belief that mathematics is tightly stitched into the fabric of reality.”He adds in conclusion, “It’s only through the rational pursuit of theories, even those that whisk us into strange and unfamiliar domains, that we stand a chance of revealing the expanse of reality.”- This review first appeared in New Dawn magazine issue #132

⭐Brian Greene is truly an excellent science writer. Though there are many ideas that cant be communicated to the lay reader and specifics almost never can, Brian Greene manages to illustrate the general ideas behind what many physicists are thinking and working on and why. The Hidden Reality is an overview of where modern day physics has taken us in terms of the potential nature of reality. In particular he explores the potential initial configurations of the universe and as well the subsequent potential mechanics and what these potentials mean for the nature of reality. He also discusses the nature of reality from the perspective of general relativity, string theory and quantum mechanics. I realize this is vague, but its hard to give a specific overview of what is talked about as the author is almost as concise as he can be to convey the ideas he attempts to. Nonetheless i’ll give it a try.The book starts out with the first example of how if we consider our planet and current aggregate configuration and history as unique, then the law of large numbers might cause some alarm in an infinite universe. In particular if we do thought experiment of assuming the universe is truly infinite (spatially with matter in all regions) then it implies that there must be copies of us out there. This results can be deduced from several vantage points and in the book, it is the fact that any negligbly small probability will be hit an infinite number of times if we have an infinite number of experiments. Though the “initial conditions” presented are just a hypothesis, this first chapter sets an eerie start which the book continues to build momentum on. The author then discusses inflationary universes and how they too give rise to multiverse scenarios in which parallel universes will remain unseen as they have inflated at distances that will never be reached. He also discusses what seem to be paradoxes of differing views of infinity, for example, those inside an expanding universe will consider it infinite space with finite time whereas outside they will consider it finite space with infinite time. One gets a glimpse of some of physicists insights but the ideas can be tough and i think to truly understand much of it deeply requires studying the math. The author then gives a brief outline of string theory and gets into the potential multiverse of branes that we might live in (i wont bother to try to paraphrase this part). Subsequent to this the author then introduces what I thought was the first model for parallel universes which is the quantum multiverse in which there is no collapse of the wave function and all possibilities are realized and the wave patterns we see are the parallel worlds interfering. The history of this is given as well as the philosophical misgivings of many scientists. The author then gets into the holographic universe which is pretty hard to grasp, (im pretty sure its hard to grasp even for the expert!) in which our sensations might all be a product of what happens on a lower dimensional space as there is a mathematical mapping between information of a surface with its higher dimensional body. This evolved from some blackhole information theory result… Clearly the book discusses things which are pretty out there but does a good job in trying to communicate what can be communicated to the reader. The book then ventures further into philosophy rather than science and discusses some ideas about what is the “reality” of a computed world and what is the “reality” that mathematical equations exist in.Intertwined throughout the book is the authors discussion of what is science. How much of these interesting ideas about the universe is science rather than philosophy. Much theoretical physics, in particular string theory, has come under a lot of pressure for producing no real testable experiments to its validity (though the experiments being thought up are getting closer to testable) and the author discusses his ideas as to what is legitimate and what is not. The book is primarily on various multiverse possibilities for the universe and how basically all modern theories have multiverse interpretations. Embedded in the writing is also the authors philosophy to legitimize his views on science – he includes some fairly out there theories of computational universes (ie extraordinarily complex simlife type computations) and the multiverse of logically correct statements and equations to show where he draws the line. I pretty much think this is a 5 star book but it is not always consistent. For example, infinity is a complicated issue as there are levels of infinity, integers are countably infinite, the real line is not. In his first chapter, the author argues as to why a multiverse will have a copy of us, he invokes quantum mechanics to legitimize the discreteness of space and thus uses a limiting exercise in the countable sense to get to the conclusion. In the last chapter though he questions this implicitly (but doesnt discuss how it affects his previous arguments) by using the continuum of schrodingers equations values to say we cant escape an infinite configuration space. This is obviously subtle and in aggregate this is a very interesting read in which complicated arguments and phenomenon are well described and the nature of reality and ideas are tackled. I learned a lot and I think everyone can get something out of it.

⭐This subject can never be easy read, but Brian Greene is immensely gifted at offering understandable analogues for the arcane intricacies of theoretical physics. This book is no exception; it is entertaining, exciting and well written in a rewarding way that coaxes your brain into strange and unfamiliar territories.In Greene’s own words, “There was a time when universe meant all there is, but soon we may have to redefine that word, along with our own meager understanding of the cosmos.” And Greene’s expert guidance uses masterly metaphor and analogy to create a lucid and accessible account of some of the strangest and most revealing insights of modern physics.He encourages the reader to abandon comfortable ways of thinking and to embrace unexpected realms of reality. From string theory to quantum mechanics, Greene describes the mathematical rigors and intuitive insight into the big bang and parallel worlds and universes, guided and confirmed by experimentation and observation to establish that space, time, matter and energy behave in ways any of us have ever witnessed. And as a result, physicists are facing the next upheaval in understanding the possibility that our universe is not unique.I found The Hidden Reality much easier to comprehend after reading Greene’s previous books, The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos. But nonetheless, The Hidden Reality is an accessible and surprisingly witty guide to parallel universes, a rare accomplishment in science writing for a popular audience.Whilst Greene has the ability to translate the absolute zero of mathematics to intelligible human language, he also provides excellent footnotes and appendices for those with a mathematical inclination. This book is a perfect read for the casual but interested layman, and both scientists and mathematicians.

⭐Bought this book expecting an interesting outlook on the view of all things weird and wonderful. The author spends far to much time writing about the useless things such as where so and so went to school and waffling on rather than actually telling the story. If you bought this book cause you’re like me and wanted information on parallel universes etc then this is covered in about the last 10 pages of a 300 page book. Highly disappointed. The writing is also so small it gave me a headache reading more than a few pages so I am afraid I have had to give up and skip to the chapters I wanted to learn about to save my head and eyesight. Would not recommend.

⭐The strength of this fine book lies in the meticulous manner in which the author systematically builds the evidence necessary to convince even the most sceptical reader to at least think seriously about the concept of parallel universes. Just as Copernicus overturned the anthropic solar-centric universe model, Greene draws upon the mathematics of the most recent developments in physics, all of which support the existence of a multiverse of which our own is far from unique.In citing: quantum mechanics, string theory and M theory the reader is drawn ever closer to the probable conclusion that our universe is merely one of many. In so doing Greene brilliantly raises questions about the empirical basis of science and proposes a paradigm shift from the classical physics approach of using equations describing physical laws, knowledge of the constants of nature and initial conditions to predict future outcomes with certainty.Perhaps the most compelling argument for parallel universes, besides the fact almost all the most recently developed theories support it, is the manner in which it can potentially reconcile that most thorny issue of contemporary physics- how to reconcile the inherent weakness of gravity and its relationship with the quantum world. The extra dimensions implicit in M theory and the possibilities of string theory offer an exciting future solution to the gravity problem which has so far stood in the way of the holy grail of a theory of everything. Indeed so powerful are the arguments proffered by Greene here, the multiverse hypothesis is set to make the pursuit of such a theory obsolete. If ours is just one of many universes, the need to understand its constants becomes less significant. In a multiverse all possible universes exist with all possible ranges of cosmological constant, Higgs field strengths and atomic particle masses.Greene uses metaphor and illustrations to great effect and is forensic in the piecing together of evidence to support his theories. For example he convincingly reconciles quantum wave theory with string theory in support of the holographic multiverse arguably the most perplexing of all the multiverse hypotheses.Memorable discussions about simulated universes and whether we are currently part of such a reality also feature- enough to entertain P.K.Dick officianados. Greene latterly also reflects upon the consequences of multiverse theories for science as an empirical investigative discipline based on observations. He also cogently explores the power of mathematics as the basis of reality and its role in multiverse theory.

⭐Plenty to take in but this author has it at his fingertips. If you are interested in the subject it is a must read. I think everyone should, at least, try to get a grasp of the big cosmic picture just to see how much we have progressed in theoretical and actual knowledge. It also shows how little we know about a finely tuned universe, the vastness of which is terrifying and throws up all sorts of possibilities to ponder upon.

⭐I consider this to the most readable and wide ranging book that Brian Greene has written and struggle to understand some of the comments slating it for being too theoretical and lacking empiricism. The book sells itself quite openly as a presentation of the breadth of theory, there is a clue in the title, so if you don’t want that ,don’t read it. However if you want a very clearly written account of what theories there are then this is it. For an example of clarity in prose read pages 32 and 33 on cosmic repetition. The book ranges from Newton and classical theory,through the difficulties in getting the maths to reconcile themselves with a unifying theory to an extreme theoretical position which can best be described as” In the beginning was the computer and the computer was Maths.”Greene is open on his position and doubts and despite the fact I suspect he is maths driven he is also prepared to debate the proposition which I, as a non mathematician hold, that if we can’t understand or prove much of the theory then altering our perceptions of logic just so the maths works is a double edged sword. We don’t understand and we created the maths which is at odds with what we can test and substantiate and it is quite possible that in a few hundred years our thinking will have evolved way beyond this.A brilliant read, even for a non mathematical archaeologist.

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