Is the infinite universe theory true?

Question

I think the theory goes something like this.... (excuse my layman's terms - I am no scientist / cosmologist!)

The universe is infinite. Therefore there are an infinite number of habitable planets as our own. The number of combinations of cells is not infinite. Therefore very similar cells appear in in far out universes - combinations very similar to our own... The number of universes are infinate.

So, there is a world somewhere, exactly like mine, but instead of being married to my husband, I am married to David Beckham (insert any other person in here!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse_(science)

I am not an expert, but read the book - the Never ending days of being dead...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-ending-Days-Being-Dead/dp/0571220568/ref=sr_1_2/026-0428741-8490823?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223680927&sr=1-2

Answer 1

I'm going to have to disagree with previous answers. The universe may indeed be infinite. If the universe was infinite that does not mean the sky would be infinitely bright (Olbers' paradox). Since the universe is finite in age and speed of light is not infinite we only see the light that has gotten to us from the edge of the observable universe and closer. The sky should theoretically get brighter and brighter as time progresses over billions of years until local amounts of hydrogen dry up and stars form less frequently. Plus that far into the future save our own local group of galaxies most other galaxies will be so far away the expansion of the universe will prevent light from reaching us. All will be dark.



I have an article hear discussing the infinite universe vs the finite but unbounded universe posted below.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn4250



As for your question (finally I get to it). Yes there will be a very large number of permutations of Earth all around. However though the number of each permutation of Earth will be infinite the number of permutations will be finite. There are only a set number of waves events can play out with a given set of physical laws. Maybe there is another Earth out there with you and Mr. Beckham eating pancakes together, but then again maybe your and his personalities don't match so it would not be possible for exact copies of yourselves to love each other. Chances are its possible though.

Answer 2

The universe is not infinite, as proven by Olber's Paradox (see reference below for a full explanation).



In short, if the universe is infinitely large, and infinitely old, and has roughly uniform distribution of stars, then the infinite universe theory would be correct. However, we know that the universe does not fit all of these criteria, because space is black.



If it were infinitely old, infinitely vast, and had stars everywhere, then there would be no direction you could possibly look that did not have a star in that direction, in some distance - possibly very large, but still a finite one... This means that every possible speck of sky would be lit by a star in that direction - it would therefore be luminous, and not dark as it is today.



Read the link below for a more in-depth description of Olber's Paradox.



Now what you're also talking about is parallel universes. There is not any way that we can think of today to detect and prove, or to conclusively disprove the existence of parallel universes. If there are an infinite number of parallel universes, there is a universe for every imaginable contingency - not just one in which you did not marry your husband, but one where everything is identical in every detail, except that you put two exclamation points after "insert any other person in here"



That is too far from testable to interest scientists at the moment. Science only deals in questions / postulations whose validity can be conclusively proven or disproved, so there isn't a whole lot of research being done on the existence of the parallel universe where you ate blackberry cobbler before going in to work this morning.



EDIT: Stephen Hawking used this idea as a sort of "solution" to his black hole information paradox, but I find it to be a bit of a cop-out.

Answer 3

i'm maximum easily a believer of the Multiverse theory I doubt although, that the actual constants of each and every universe differs to allow Gods. i could have an interest to understand if shall we work together with the different universe's, yet that would flow against Hugh Everetts's Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics.

Answer 4

"...The universe is infinite..."

If we go by the strict definition of 'infinite' then the universe is *not* infinite. Infinite is defined as some thing that has no beginning nor end, and it appears...repeat, appears...that our universe had a beginning. The most recent research, particularly data returned by the WMAP probe, strongly implies that our universe will continue to expand indefinitely. That's about as close to meeting the definition of infinite as most cosmologists care to go.

Answer 5

Well, You, young lady, are truly fortunate. (don't miss the pun)

I, your One GOD have decided to try out this new fangled World Wide Web and so you will have a definitive and absolute answer: "No."

In return for this you are required to sacrifice you firstbor... oh wait, been there, done that. In return for My gracing you with My attention you are required to tithe the church ... oh wait ... lets try something else... you are required to donate as much as you are comfortable with to a charity which helps those in need and in pain. Should you fail to do this, then your life will be a little smaller. So it shall be. In the future, look for answers about "Truth" in the religion or philosophy areas, not in Science.

It IS true that no two snowflakes are exactly alike. Because that is the way that I designed the Universe. Its about time....

Answer 6

iv never got on with the idea of the big bang starting it all off. as i understand it matter cannot be created nor destroyed , therefore it must have existed forever. if it did it would have infinite time to create any possibility....... this may be junk cos im on the booze, ps. my wife died last year.

Answer 7

I don't think so because the visible universe isn't infinite.