(by Jean Moisset)
Mankind has always dreamed of another type of world which would permit him to escape the constraints and difficulties of life as well as the inevitable physiological and mental degradations of aging. In such a world, all would be in synchronicity: all desires would be fulfilled , love, friendship and fine sentiments practiced by all; disease would not exist and immortality would be the normal rule. In other words: Paradise ! The myth of paradise lost is in effect an archetype well anchored in man's collective subconscious. In a perspective which has no rapport with the above, we note that recently scientists have postulated the existence of universes parallel to the one in which we live. Before further discussion, we must make clear the distinction between the great universe composed of the innumerable visible and invisible galaxies and our local galactic island-universe we call the Milky Way. The other island-universes are certainly not very different from ours. Their distribution is of a fractal nature and must be auto-similar, which will probably be confirmed by more precise astronomical observations in the future.
The creation of multiple universes
According to Guth, the emergence of high energy physical processes between 10 and 15 billion years ago could explain the creation of the universe. At that time the universe was probably the size of a particle in 8 or more dimensions (4 of which are those known to us : 3 of space: length, width, height and 1 of time; the 4 others having remained withdrawn in forces (the theory of supercords). The universe formed spontaneously from this apparent void (a sort of cosmic egg) at the same time as space and time. The astrophysicist, Trinh Xuan Thuan thinks that our universe, which contains dozens of billions of galaxies, was at the beginning only a tiny bubble lost in a meta-universe made of billions upon billions of meta-universes billions upon billions of times larger. This meta-universe was probably a part of a quantity of innumerable other meta-universe created during the inflationary period of the Big Bang and gave birth simultaneously to each of the myriads of worlds analogous to or different from ours, but will always remain unknown to us.
By coincidence
Today, based upon the inflationary theory, physicists think that life and conscience appeared in our universe by chance or coincidence because of the existance of favorable conditions and physical constants, and that the other universes are sterile . But of course there is no proof that it is so. Some scientists have speculated that the universe is self productive, that is, a sort of enormous fractal bubble which continually regenerates itself. It would be composed of numerous bubbles which would then generate other bubbles ad infinitum. The universe would then be eternal and life would appear in all possible forms (Andrei Linde - Pour la science, January 1995). Other worlds probably exist which could be called anti-universes because there characteristics would be just the inverse of the those we know.
The antimatter universe
When the universe began to form it contained both particles of matter and particles of antimatter. The difference is due to the fact that the particles of antimatter have an electric charge opposite to the particles of matter as we know them. Thus, in our universe, an electron has a negative charge while an anti-electron given the name positron is charged positively. When they meet they are mutually annihilated. At the time of origin of the universe, the particles of matter were more numerous than the particles of anti-matter thus after mutual annihilation only the particles of matter remained to form our present universe. By this reasoning, it is possible that other universes formed of ant-matter also exist. The bizarre consequences of the existence of such worlds have been exploited by science-fiction authors. Thus, the inhabitants of a planet made of anti-matter would fall upwards, time would flow backwards and clocks move counter clockwise ; the day would begin in the evening and finish in the morning ; the dead would rise from their tomb, grow younger and return to their mother's womb , etc (Les 24 coups de minuit, a novel by Louis Andr?). Other extraordinary science fiction type hypothesis' concerning multiple universes have been described by physicists.
Multiple divergent universes
This strange theory, based upon quantum physics, was presented by Everett in the 1950's, then extended by Wheeler and finally by Graham and de Witt in 1970. It was an attempt to find a solution to the difficult problems posed by quantum processes , notably formulated by Schrodinger in his famous Paradox of the Cat : He had imagined an experiment to demonstrate the dead-end into which the position of idealistic physicists had placed themselves when explaining that the micro-physical processes of reduction of wave packets of a particle is triggered by the conscience of the observer. A cat is enclosed in a box for one hour with one chance in two of of being killed by a poisonous gas triggered by a chance radioactive source. Thus the chat finds itself in a superimposition of states. As long as we have not provoked the reduction of the wave packet and observed the results by openning the box, there is 50% living cat and 50% dead cat. It is only at that moment that we find the cat dead or alive. According to this theory, the universe is divided in two at each wave packet reduction , that is, each time there is an alternative of action, choice or decision. In one universe the cat would be alive in another, the cat would be dead. Each universe would be real but find it impossible to contact each other. As a consequence, there would be an infinite number of universes where in some we would be alive and in others dead, and still others where we will never have existed. In certain universes Hitler would have won the war, in others General Charles de Gaulle would have never existed.
A voyage in time
In spite of its surprising aspects, the theory is based upon a solid mathematical formalism and is still being actively discussed. For example, there is the interesting article by David Deutsch and Micheal Lockwood, professors at the University of Oxford, in the magazine Pour La Science of May 1994 on this subject of a voyage in time. According to a recent poll made in the USA, 58% of the physicists believe in this theory (An article on parallel worlds by Paul Loubi?re and Sylvie Rouart in Science et Avenir of January 1998). The theory of multable divergent worlds would resolve the paradox of a voyage in time. An explorer travels in the past and kills his grand-father. This seems to be impossible since he could not have been born. As we have explained above, the universe would be divided in two each time there is an alternative action, choice or decision. The explorer in time would also be divided in two . In one universe he would renounce his excursion in time and would live. In another universe, he would have killed his grand-father during a voyage in the past and therefore could not have existed. In order to attempt an approach in keeping with reality, scientists have imagined multi-dimensional universes or transcendent the conditions and constants of our universe.
Hypothetical universes conceived by physicists
A hypothesis by David Bohm is one of the most interesting. According to him, our entire universe is just a simple quantum excitation trace in the form of a wave, a ripple in an immense ocean of cosmic energy. It is this hidden energetic background which engenders the three dimensional projection composing the phenomenal world perceived by us. According to David Bohm, there exist two sorts of reality : - The implied order which is imperceptible to our senses and to scientific study and is the primordial reality beyond space-time. Conscience and matter would come from the implied order which would be the common field. - The opened order, which corresponds to the world which we perceive through our senses, would represent only the emergence of the implied order which would be its source and matrix. According to professor Dutheil, There exists another universe which is symmetrical to ours, where the speed of light is always superior to our speed of light. In this universe, the notion of time as we know it would disappear since we could move in an instantaneous manner in the past, present and future. This universe, baptized "Superluminous space-time" would be formed of only information and conscience : all information past, present and future and the conscience of all of humanity.
A hologram ?
Thus, our sub-luminous universe would only be a hologram, a poor reflection of the super-luminous universe which would be the fundamental universe. In our universe, information is in general at the base of causal sequences, while in the super-luminous universe information always ends in the creation of synchronicities. Moreover, several physicists have imagined theories on the subject of parallel worlds which could explain PSI phenomena, in particular materializations and dematerializations. Professor Hastad considers that the phenomena concerning the disappearance and reappearance of objects could be created by a quantum transition. Ernst Mach, Hans Walkoff and Petzold have suggested the hypothesis of a hyper-space, while the physicist Elisabeth Raucher suggests a universe in 8 dimensions, 4 of which would be space-time as we know them and 4 imaginary ones of psychic nature. An object would disappear in our universe to reappear in another universe, then leave it to reappear in ours but not exactly at the same place.
The spiritual and superior worlds
With these worlds we enter into the metaphysical domain and the mystical, spiritual, esoteric and occultist traditions. The evolution of beings toward the superior immaterial spheres or a reintegration into the divine would take place progressively in general by a passage into more and more subtle intermediate worlds, in accordance to a outline more or less like the one we present below, based essentially on the teachings of the oriental metaphysics and philosophies (Vedanta, Yoga, Tao, Bouddhism...).