Is our universe a giant hologram?

RainmanTime

RainmanTime

Super Moderator
Thought I would share this... physics may be on the verge of understanding something big:


http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126911.300-our-world-may-be-a-giant-hologram.html?full=true


<font color="red"> For many months, the GEO600 team-members had been scratching their heads over inexplicable noise that is plaguing their giant detector. Then, out of the blue, a researcher approached them with an explanation. In fact, he had even predicted the noise before he knew they were detecting it. According to Craig Hogan, a physicist at the Fermilab particle physics lab in Batavia, Illinois, GEO600 has stumbled upon the fundamental limit of space-time - the point where space-time stops behaving like the smooth continuum Einstein described and instead dissolves into "grains", just as a newspaper photograph dissolves into dots as you zoom in. "It looks like GEO600 is being buffeted by the microscopic quantum convulsions of space-time," says Hogan.

If this doesn't blow your socks off, then Hogan, who has just been appointed director of Fermilab's Center for Particle Astrophysics, has an even bigger shock in store: "If the GEO600 result is what I suspect it is, then we are all living in a giant cosmic hologram." [/COLOR]

This bodes quite well for the theoretical work of Dr. Jack Sarfatti... a friend of mine from San Francisco whose work I have followed for quite awhile.
RMT
 
i just read the article and i have a question. that theory is fine and all, but are there possibilities for other theories?

if so, i have another theory. outside of the universe, could there theoretically be nothing but light? could this wall of light be so strong that there is a sort of shaded area of light and dark matter? could this possibly be the reason for the grains?

just a thought...
 
Hi ruthless,

but are there possibilities for other theories?
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Of course. But as Darby always points out, the true test of a good theory is not only if it can explain existing data, but if it can predict something not yet known or tested.

outside of the universe, could there theoretically be nothing but light?
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I don't see why not. There are some who theorize that our entire universe actually lives in a black hole, which is why we cannot "see" beyond a certain distance. I question such a theory, but it is an interesting one.

could this wall of light be so strong that there is a sort of shaded area of light and dark matter? could this possibly be the reason for the grains?
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I'm not sure I understand what you mean. How does the strength of the light cause shaded areas?

To me, the interesting part of Hogan's work and the holographic theory is that he was able to predict the "noise" that the German researchers were being plagued by. That is similar to Einstein's prediction of frame dragging which we were only able to test in recent times with NASA's gravity probe b.

RMT
 
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. How does the strength of the light cause shaded areas?
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its just an idea ive been flopping around in my head. i'll try to explain the best i can.

imagine sitting where you are right now, and imagine that light gradually increases in intensity. also keep in mind that while your sitting here, the intensity of light doesent hurt your eyes, or make you squint for the purposes of this theory.

i think that the light would get so intense that it would eventually make the room nothing but a few lines you could see. i think that after the light got even more intense, those lines would turn into nothing but dots, and eventually you cant see anything at all except a bright white.

i akin it to turning up the gamma on a pc. just a thought.

a piece of evidence: god said, "let there be light." and god created a firmament between the heavens and earth.
 
valdemort.jpg

Ray , the links broke...try again for me please...
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Try here:
Link to GLP /ttiforum/images/graemlins/devil.gif /ttiforum/images/graemlins/devil.gif /ttiforum/images/graemlins/devil.gif

:oops:
 
are there possibilities for other theories?
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Yes, there is always room for other theories.

Once you have a theory, then the fun of finding supporting evidence begins so you can to build a foundation under your theory.

IF there are others who share the same idea, then read what they have written, and if possible communicate with them, to gather evidence either for or against your theory.

IF there isn't anyone who has done any work on the same idea, then it is up to you to go out and gather the evidence, whether that be mathematical, or physical in nature.
 
No one - including Hogan - is yet claiming that GEO600 has found evidence that we live in a holographic universe. It is far too soon to say. "There could still be a mundane source of the noise," Hogan admits
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Ugly nothing. but given credit... for what it is...
 
The theory that we merely exist within in a holographic Universe continues to brings into play many age old questions.

If the Universe IS merely a projection, how come we are able to interact within the projection ?

IF I create a projection of an apple, using a 2-D system, to project a 3-D display of the image, others may observe a 3 dimensional apple on a table, but when those others attempt to interact with the "image" of the apple, they can't.

The projection ( Our Universe ) as presented in the article obviously contains far more information than a simple holographic image...and then I wonder where the illusion begins, and the reality ends ?

Thus, I seemingly have returned to the original philosophical questions regarding the dynamics behind the existence of the Universe and all contained therein.

However, as pointed out this is merely "a beginning ", and since Hogan was successful with his prediction, who knows where his research will take him from here ?

Will be interesting to follow any future work as done by Hogan and to see what other evidence he collects to support his theories.
 
However, as pointed out this is merely "a beginning ", and since Hogan was successful with his prediction, who knows where his research will take him from here ?

Will be interesting to follow any future work as done by Hogan and to see what other evidence he collects to support his theories.
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Indeed it will be interesting to see where this goes, especially since physics also has the challenge to explain what dark energy is and how it might relate to a holographic universe prediction.

But Hogan stands on the shoulders of the giant, one John Archibald Wheeler. He was an accomplished and important physicist who passed away about a year ago. In his later years Wheeler espoused a holographic view of the universe as well. Furthermore, another major figure in physics today, Lenny Susskind from Stanford, has a lot to say about the holographic possibilities as well.

Some charts from a recent Susskind lecture that I am just now taking a look at:

http://online.kitp.ucsb.edu/online/strings98/susskind/

A good interview with Dr. Susskind:

Interview with Lenny Susskind



RMT
 
The first link...whoosh...over my head, mathematicaly speaking. Liked his artistic ability, though.

I am curious if you are placing a little test in some of these links, Rainman, as they don't take you directly to the site, but one has to do a little bit of copy paste or address editing work to actually get to the referenced site.


The second link...

Very interesting, I enjoyed the mention about "information" vanishing. IF the information does indeed vanish from this Universe...I still am of the belief that energy/information can't be destroyed, merely transformed, then it seems to bring into focus the multiverse theory.

Although this still seems to be a heated debate, as mentioned that the "information" may be merely released, transformed into something else.

Be interesting to one day know what does happen to the information that "seems" to evaporate and vanish from our Universe.
 
...since physics also has the challenge to explain what dark energy is...
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In thinking about the dark matter issue, what occured to me is that perhaps when a black hole "evaporate's" , in essence, the information is actually becoming or is being absorbed by this "dark energy".

Since we have a difficult time detecting dark matter, we might not "see" the dynamics of this "dark" energy absorbing/becoming the energy from a black hole, rendering such black hole information into seemingly nothing.

Thus the information isn't really vanishing into another dimension or some portion of a mutliverse, but is transformed into dark matter, all still within this Universe.

The question of the shape of the Universe certainly is a dandy, especially when compared to the dynamics of an explosion. We can calculate the direction of the energy of a blast, and place the explosive material in a position to "direct" the flow.

This seems to be question that will be answered one day, as the technology advances and we can "see" further into the distances of our Universe, as is pointed out via the Ruthless link above.

What I find interesting is that IF all there was, had an original shape of a golf ball, or any spherical shape for that matter, then when the explosion ( rapid expansion ) occurred, the energy/information would follow the path of least resistence.

If the Universe is shaped as anything other than a sphere, then something caused it to be so.
 
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