On Parallel Universe, Multiverse and Many Worlds Interpretation

One of the movies that stormed my senses so hard was the one with Jet Li entitled "The One"(the other perhaps is "Star Gate") that talks about him being an officer of a multiverse authority agency that polices interdimensional travel via wormhole, seeking to hunt down all variations of himself in alternate universes. But now, there are many of these multiverse science fiction stories being made, motion picture or comic books-wise. 

But where did this "Parallel Universe" and "Many-Worlds-Interpretation" concept come into existence in a scientific context? While other laws of the universe like General Relativity, particularly one that involves gravity, are predictive and deterministic(in other words, if we knew the positions and momenta of all the particles, and had infinite computational power, the properties of any particle an arbitrary amount of time into the future can be predicted), one can't say the same for Quantum Mechanics.  For example, in a Uranium nucleus, you very well know that it will decay after a given amount of time if you get a large enough sample of Uranium, however predicting properties of the larger ensemble is different than doing so for an individual particles and that there is also no way you can predict what any one particular particle will do. The same quantum weirdness and indeterminism turns up in other system. And that is just a Uranium atom, there are at least 10 to the 90th particles in our observable universe. So how many times did that one particle experience a quantum interaction with another? How many times did its position or momentum change? How many times did one particular quantum possibility happen for that particle, and hence, not the other possibilities? The answer is staggering. Each time a nuclear reaction takes place inside a star(something that happens maybe 10 to the 20th times each second in our Sun alone), a huge number of particles experience a quantum interaction. And if just one of these interactions had a different outcome, our Universe would be in a different quantum state than the one it’s actually in. 

In quantum mechanics, a particle’s property is defined by a wavefunction, and that function changes over time. While measurable data is a real thing and wavefunction is another, in our understanding of Many Worlds Theory, the wavefunction is definitely real, and so every time a “quantum decision” can be made, every quantum possibility happens somewhere, and what we experience in our universe is simply a path being chosen by one of these plurality of quantum possibilities. And if we want to be strictly mathematical about it, the cosmic inflation(10 to the negative 30th seconds) could have also produced 10 to the 10th to the 90th more or less worth of identical space, time and matter for it to happen. 

However the many-worlds-interpretation doesn’t require that Parallel Universes are real. The Parallel Universes are, in a conservative view, is simply just a visualization of what the wavefunction creates.

But there are some physicists who are putting together the huge amount of universe-spacetime created via eternal inflation and the many-worlds-interpretation model/effort to argue that Parallel Universes are real, and that for every "quantum realization" that occurs in our universe, there exists a real Parallel Universe where everything that ever occurred in our universe occurred also over there, except for that one difference.

And that difference is that in this another universe, I am an emperor. Or a rock star. Or perhaps I am the one who fused General Relativity with Quantum Mechanics and came up with one equation to all known laws of the universe. I am the one who read the mind of god. 

Black Hole and the Information Paradox

Black Hole is my most favorite subject because it involves lots of spooky action, lots of calculative creativity(or creative calculation, depending on which side you're looking at).

We all know that Quantum Theory and General Relativity don't really mix well in a scientific cocktail. THEY DON'T AGREE WITH EACH OTHER. Quantum Theory was supposed to describe all physical processes of nature but does not very well good at predicting what will happen, rather just the probability, and you can only make sense of it, in the realm of science, when you add up all the probabilities, thus the sum should be equal to one. On the other hand, General Relativity only makes fuss about gravity. Unlike quantum theory, general relativity predicts exactly what will happen, and it says that what goes into the black hole never comes out(specifically when it reaches Event Horizon). According to general relativity, the information is stuck there forever(See? There is forever).

Now here comes the paradox which is a little challenging to the neural glands. It says that the black hole, surrounded by quantum fields, will radiate particles(Hawking radiation in the form of particles of zero or low mass particles, such as photons or neutrinos or gravitons) and shrink in size, and will eventually evaporate. Now if that were the case so, it violates quantum theory. Or maybe, this is a point where quantum theory changes? But since the information can't get out of the black hole, maybe the information is stored into the Hawking radiation? But it can't be so, rather than the possibility that it is being copied? But having two copies of information also violates quantum theory.

Now, some physicists propose a way to circumvent it using a concept of COMPLEMENTARITY(proposed by Leonard Susskind and folks), which states that information can be both inside and outside of the black hole, depending on one's perspective. However, this model is self-contradicting and requires a supplemental model called holography to be true as well. The idea is that the physics of the three-dimensional interior of the black hole, where gravity obviously plays a role, can instead be viewed, via a rather mysterious transformation, as physics just above the two-dimensional horizon, where it is described by two-dimensional equations that do not include gravity at all. Some physicists also conjectured String Theory(a quantum generalization of general relativity and may well be a candidate theory of all known laws of nature in the universe), which they said to be simply a quantum theory without gravity.

But as a black hole evaporates, complementarity itself runs into a serious paradox. If the outside observer sees evaporation occur without loss(or copying) of information, than an infalling observer crashes into something at the horizon whimsically called a “FIREWALL” where there wasn’t supposed to be anything. Another violation occurs, and this time it violates expectations from general relativity horrendously. It seems that if we were suppose to hinge quantum theory to be the sole description of the science behind black hole, general relativity requires a total overhaul. AGAIN, THEY DON'T AGREE WITH EACH OTHER, and there's no sign of String Theory coming to the rescue and bridging the mathematical divide. I am confused and so does everyone else. 

There are lots and lots of proposals as to how to get out of this conundrum but you’re not hearing about most of them, except for Stephen Hawking’s because of his sensational pop culture status similar to X-Men's Dr. Charles Xavier, but he’s really just one of many heads tossing around this idea. In fact, this is actually the nth time Stephen Hawking keeps on changing his stand about this. So Stephen Hawking didn't solve anything yet, he just propose a new model of understanding which is not yet what science is all about. Similarly, don't expect this equation to be solved within a 10year time frame. Perhaps not even 20 years.

Four Seasons Hotpot Buffet in San Miguel by the Bay, SM Mall of Asia

The last time I recall I had a grand steamboat experience was in Singapore, and although relatively affordable as compared to the mainstream Singaporean restaurants, my pocket was still aching and bludgeoned in a Singaporean dollar. 

Thankfully, we already have a local steamboat experience to boot. Four Seasons, is the newest hotpot haven in the metro, and is a brainchild of the famous Vikings Luxury Buffet group. 

With bright lighting fixtures, exuberant furnitures, and lavish design elements, the interior screams of a modern tapestry. This is probably one of the best hotpot dining sphere I have tried, with a vast swath of ingredients, a wide assortment of fresh vegetables, and an array of premium thin cut meats from beef striploin, top blade, shortplate, pork belly, jowls, and others. 

Let's what is up for gastronomic grab:

My plate.

BL's plate.

Our desserts. 

Our hotpot. a Chicken soup with Sate and a Vegetable soup with Chinese herb. I added some seasonings (secret) to make the taste richer. 

Four birthday celebrators in one astronomical fold, everybody's happy.