Can the Multiverse Be Tested Scientifically? 147
astroengine writes: Physicists aren't afraid of thinking big, but what happens when you think too big? This philosophical question overlaps with real physics when hypothesizing what lies beyond the boundary of our observable universe. The problem with trying to apply science to something that may or may not exist beyond our physical realm is that it gets a little foggy as to how we could scientifically test it. A leading hypothesis to come from cosmic inflation theory and advanced theoretical studies — centering around the superstring hypothesis — is that of the "multiverse," an idea that scientists have had a hard time in testing. But now, scientists at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, in Ontario, Canada have, for the first time, created a computer model of colliding universes in the multiverse in an attempt to seek out observational evidence of its existence.
Re: String theory is not science (Score:2, Insightful)
The entire universe is math.
No (Score:4, Insightful)
Can the Multiverse Be Tested Scientifically?
You can test specific hypotheses related to how the parts of a multiverse might interact, but no you can't test the general concept of a multiverse since there's nothing inherent to it that requires any detactable phenomena.
Re:String theory is not science (Score:5, Insightful)
It's testable, it's measurable, it's repeatable, it's capable of prediction. it's either the simplest model that meets these requirements AND produces correct predictions, OR it is not.
Therefore it is science.
Maths is a science, for the reasons given in the first line. Science is a mathematical system, because ultimately there is nothing there, just numbers. (See: Spinons and other quasiparticles.)
Re: String theory is not science (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, but not all math is science. And not everything that possible in math is possible in reality.