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FirmhandKY -> Holographic Universe? (10/28/2010 6:04:31 PM)
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As some of you may be aware, I've been following some of the strange theories that have grown out of quantum theory, especially as it may relate to some human experiences that seem to defy easy scientific explanation.
You can read my last thread about some of those theories here ("Physics, Psychics, Religion and "Spooky Things").
One of those theories is the theory of the "holographic universe", and I ran across an interesting article tonight:
Fermilab is Building a 'Holometer' to Determine Once and For All Whether Reality Is Just an Illusion
By Clay Dillow Posted 10.21.2010 at 12:15 pm
Researchers at Fermilab are building a “holometer” so they can disprove everything you thought you knew about the universe. More specifically, they are trying to either prove or disprove the somewhat mind-bending notion that the third dimension doesn’t exist at all, and that the 3-D universe we think we live in is nothing more than a hologram. To do so, they are building the most precise clock ever created.
The universe-as-hologram theory is predicated on the idea that spacetime is not perfectly smooth, but becomes discrete and pixelated as you zoom in further and further, like a low-res digital image. This idea isn’t novel; recent experiments in black-hole physics have offered evidence that this may be the case, and prominent physicists have proposed similar ideas. Under this theory, the universe actually exists in two dimensions and the third is an illusion produced by the intertwining of time and depth. But the false third dimension can’t be perceived as such, because nothing travels faster than light, so instruments can’t find its limits.
A little more technical explanation can be found here:
The Fermilab Holometer
The Holographic Interferometer, or Holometer, is a machine designed to test a particular idea about how space, time, matter, and energy behave on the very smallest scales. ...
If there is a minimum interval of time, or a maximum frequency in nature, there is a corresponding limit on the fidelity of space and time.
...
More recently, theoretical studies of black holes, and later in string theory and other forms of unification, have suggested that physics on the Planck scale is holographic. It is conjectured that space is two dimensional, and the third dimension is inextricably linked with time. If so, our three-dimensional world is a kind of approximate illusion that emerges only on scales much larger than the Planck length.
It could be that the illusion is imperfect and blurry. The maximum frequency may introduce a particular kind of noise or jitter into spacetime, as measured by the propagation of light in different directions.
The holometer attempts a direct experimental test of one form of this hypothesis.
Results may start to be available as soon as next year.
Firm
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