A Mathematical Answer To the Parallel Universe Question

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A Mathematical Answer To the Parallel Universe Question

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday September 24, 2007 @06:33AM from the evil-twins-always-have-a-goatee dept.

diewlasing writes to mention that Oxford scientists have proffered a mathematical answer to the parallel universe question that is gaining some support in the scientific community. "According to quantum mechanics, unobserved particles are described by 'wave functions' representing a set of multiple 'probable' states. When an observer makes a measurement, the particle then settles down into one of these multiple options. The Oxford team, led by Dr. David Deutsch, showed mathematically that the bush-like branching structure created by the universe splitting into parallel versions of itself can explain the probabilistic nature of quantum outcomes."

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Yes... by fyngyrz · 2007-09-24 06:34 · Score: 4, Funny

...but this is only a valid answer in some parallel universe.

Yeah, yeah, I know it only affects physical outcomes. Laugh anyway. It's Monday.

--
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
1. Re:Yes... by Hoi+Polloi · 2007-09-24 06:50 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  In some parallel universe you simply posted a link to goatse.
  
  --
  It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
2. Re:Yes... by Selfbain · 2007-09-24 06:56 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  And got a +5 insightful.
  
  --
  Well, it has never been successfully tested.
3. Re:Yes... by fyngyrz · 2007-09-24 06:58 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  ...but in that universe, goatse is a picture of a cat going "LOL I'm all up in Schrodinger's box. I can have tuna?"
  
  --
  I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
4. Re:Yes... by MyLongNickName · 2007-09-24 07:00 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  And yet, no matter how many parallel universes there are, he still never gets laid. Where's the justice?
  
  --
  See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
5. Re:Yes... by pegr · 2007-09-24 07:40 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  ...but this is only a valid answer in some parallel universe.
  
  I have no idea. I didn't want to change the outcome of the article by reading it...
6. Re:Yes... by Poltras · 2007-09-24 08:04 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I'm gonna start my OWN universe. With hookers and blackjack!
  
  --
  Of Code And Men
7. Re:Yes... by madsenj37 · 2007-09-24 08:13 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  On second thought, forget the blackjack. /I love Bender.
  
  --
  Choosing the lesser of two evils is a choice for evil.
8. Re:Yes... by Dachannien · 2007-09-24 09:36 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Or maybe this. (Assuming the deep link works.)
9. Re:Yes... by ObsessiveMathsFreak · 2007-09-24 10:48 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Right here in this universe of course.
  
  --
  May the Maths Be with you!
Obligatory ... by JeepFanatic · 2007-09-24 06:38 · Score: 5, Funny

But can this explain why all the men have goatees?
1. Re:Obligatory ... by Hoi+Polloi · 2007-09-24 06:55 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Better they have goatees than goatse.
  
  --
  It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
the answer? by CaptainPatent · 2007-09-24 06:39 · Score: 2, Funny

It happens to be that the answer to life, the universe and everything in that universe is 43

--
Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
Re:Why is this news? by ShatteredArm · 2007-09-24 06:42 · Score: 2, Funny

Yeah, the article seemed to be a little lacking in the "mathematical proof" area.
Re:Well if you can't believe in God.... by CaseCrash · 2007-09-24 06:46 · Score: 1, Funny

Sure you can. You can believe anything you want to. Making logical sense has nothing to do with it. (reference: see all religions)

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No, that link you posted to a web comic we've all seen a hundred times is not "obligatory."
Re:Parallel Universes conflict with Mind-Body Prob by trolltalk.com · 2007-09-24 06:47 · Score: 3, Funny

Think about the "mind-body problem" Okay ...
I did ... and here's my solution. Basically, there are other branches where life sucks less, and others where life suck more, etc. I'm going to find the one where life sucks less and kill my alter ego so I can take their place!!!!!!!! (Of course, that means that there's ANOTHER me in an even suckier universe gunning for me, so better be quick!)
You'd better watch out - there may be a doppelganger of you looking to do the same thing...

--
Kevin Smith on Prince
Re:Why is this news? by UbuntuDupe · 2007-09-24 06:51 · Score: 4, Funny

The moon landing was "one of the most important developments in human history", but that doesn't mean you should report it as news on slashdot forty years later!

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Apology to Ubuntu forum.
Occam's razor by Biff+Stu · 2007-09-24 07:00 · Score: 4, Funny

So they say they have a mathematical description of the parallel universe theory. One can construct a mathematical model that describes the geocentric solar system perfectly well, but the the heliocentric version is much simpler.

So, which is simpler?

(1) Shit happens.

(2) Shit happens. Parallel universes are created.
an old chestnut... by Speare · 2007-09-24 07:00 · Score: 4, Funny
- An engineer says that the equation approximates reality;
- A physicist says that reality approximates the equation;
- A mathematician simply doesn't care.
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[ .sig file not found ]
Re:One question... by nine-times · 2007-09-24 07:04 · Score: 2, Funny

I don't understand how you're using the word "ontology". Can you explain that some other way?
Re:Well if you can't believe in God.... by meringuoid · 2007-09-24 07:59 · Score: 4, Funny

And the whole dark matter/dark energy thing strikes me as a load of humbug... saying there must be some undetectable, magical force acting on all the matter in the universe because the calculations we've come up with so far are inaccurate strikes me as lazy and uncreative.
It worked once before. Calculations of the orbit of the planet Uranus were noticeably inaccurate; the planet wasn't quite where it ought to have been. One explanation was that this was the result of the gravitational effect of a large amount of dark matter. This dark matter was later found and named Neptune.

--
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
This is old news by Anonymous Coward · 2007-09-24 08:00 · Score: 1, Funny

It's 2007, they are USB universes nowadays.
Re:How does quantum states end up in car accidents by brunascle · 2007-09-24 10:15 · Score: 2, Funny

well, here's one way. use this site. if you get a 1, go drive head-on into someone.