Mnoho světů v jednom

by Alex Vilenkin

Je možné, že vesmír, ve kterém žijeme, je jen jedním z mnoha dalších? Autor, považovaný za kosmologa s největší představivostí a kreativností, nás seznamuje s nejnovějšími kosmologickými představami, představami téměř hraničícími s fantazií, například s kvantovým stvořením vesmíru z ničeho, s kosmickou inflací či s představou existence mnohočetných vesmírů.

Genres: Science, Physics, Nonfiction, Astronomy, Popular Science

232 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Alex Vilenkin is a physicist recognized for his work on the early universe cosmology. He is known particularly for his studies of topological defects, eternal cosmic inflation, quantum cosmology, and for the theory of chiral magnetic and chiral vortical effects.
Vilenkin was born in the city of Kharkov (former Soviet Union) and graduated from the Kharkov State University in 1971 with a degree in physics. He immigrated to the US in 1976 and got his Ph.D. from SUNY Buffalo the following year. After a year as a post-doc at Case Western Reserve University, he joined the faculty of Tufts University where he is currently L. and J. Bernstein Professor of Evolutionary Science. He also serves as Director of the Tufts Institute of Cosmology. Vilenkin is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Reviews

[Andrés Astudillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome as fuck. To me, this is the first book on quantum cosmology. Most of the time we refer to cosmology as something related to space time or something "big", such as the cosmos itself, and whatever related to that, concerning Einstein's theories, or Euclidean geometry or DeSitter space, but, this one tackles cosmology from a quantum perspective: all that's related to both Plank's time and length. This is not something related to Spiderman's Multiverses or anything like it: this is a science book and you may need some background to deeply understand this kind of concepts, specially what we call "vacuum".

Definitely won't be my last book on this subject, but I do recognize that it is a bit hard to get my hands on these kind of books.

[John Trefry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure who is the better scientist, but in terms of the prose required to address this multiverse issue, of those I've read, the advantage is as follows: Greene>Vilenkin>Tegmark. This text was a valuable supplement to Greene because I don't think any one suite of analogies can properly conceptualize this complicated stuff, and really, for laypeople, all we are really looking for is some way to understand analogically. Recommended as a supplement to Greene's multiverse text, THE HIDDEN REALITY.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book, but not at all what I was expecting. Based on the title and reviews, I thought it would delve deeply into the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. But no mention of multiverses comes up until the last teensy sliver of the book and then only in conjunction with the author’s discussion of his most recent paper that describes a theory of a universe which arises out of nothingness. Here, the discussion is juxtaposed against the backdrop of ancient creation myths. Is the universe really more like the cosmic egg, arising out of nothing, or more like the dance of Shiva, in a constant state of creation and destruction? Is there a universe that maps to every possible mathematical structure and if so, does God love math so much that he’s willing to waste it on universes that can never sustain themselves long enough to create intelligent life that will be able to appreciate it? Further, if math is a product of the mind, does the mind somehow predate the creation of the universe? All interesting questions, but since the bulk of the book features a more formal discussion of the Standard Model of particle physics, the last fleeting thoughts come out of nowhere, unsubstantiated and left hanging in the air unanswered.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A breezy survey of the view you get from the top of a mountain called Cosmic Inflation Theory. Saying that the view is immense would be like calling War and Peace a long story - and it's a pity, a generation after Alan Guth's monumental discoveries, that the more mind-boggling consequences of inflationary cosmology have not filtered down to more non-scientists. But this is at best a very mixed success: Vilenkin writes with admirable lightness and clarity, at the level of the sentence, but has a poor sense of how to cut the math and still explain the concepts adequately. The false vacuum, for instance, is a core concept, and Vilenkin just doesn't seem to see that one could read this entire book, and its dozens of references to false vacuums (false vacua?), without having a clue what a f.v. is.

In some ways much harder and more technical, yet better at explaining to a lay audience, is Guth's own original popularization of his "Spectacular Realization," a book from the 1990s under the title The Inflationary Universe.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing historical survey of the development of cosmological inflation theory, which gets more mind-blowing with each chapter. Charmingly and lucidly written, with intriguing historical asides that are little rests from the succession of astonishments.

[grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

alex vilenkin writes so eloquently and makes difficult concepts (at least to me, since i'm not extremely knowledgeable in quantum physics). i enjoyed learning about the cosmos and the 'creation' of our universe/space-time.

[esplovago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice divulgative exposition of the research ideas and results of Alex Vilekin, with a clear and engaging writing style. It's worth reading for knowing the big ideas behind Quantum Cosmology.

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read Vilenkin was there during the 1970s cold war developing models around inflation. I have a paper copy of this in my bookcase somewhere. I have to pick it up again and give it a decent review.

[Raymond Lam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Vilenkin's work on his original eternal inflation theory via quantum fluctuation resulting in a multiverse model. The work is clearly written and easy to follow. Also offered are many personal stories and background in his journey to develop his unique inflation model. He referenced Guth as a pioneer to offer a mechanism via inflation to explain what caused the Big Bang which was sometimes taken as a philosophical problem. The inflation is driven by the tension of a false vacuum energy overcoming the attraction of the true vacuum mass density. Vilenkin provided his contribution by his eternal inflation theory. In this book, he provides a clear explanation of the false vacuum scalar field decay to true vacuum using a ball rolling down a slope model, to include possible quantum tunneling causing a ball to tunnel thru a hill to appear on the other side of the slope.

According to Vilenkin, eternal inflation results if the half life of the false vacuum decay is longer than the false vacuum volume expansion. He thinks in distant parts of the universe, they are filled with false vacuums and undergoing exponential inflationary expansion, and regions like our own are reproduced forming "island universes". You may say they are his notion of multiverse. When this process multiplies faster than false vacuum decay half life, it creates eternal inflation. Also of his original contribution is that there can be infinite copies of an infinite regions within each island universe because quantum mechanics allows history to repeat itself. Vilenkin also explains why an inflation happens. He suggests it is quantum fluctuation from a vacuum which would have energy tension if it is a false vacuum . There is no explanation needed of why inflation occurs if it is from quantum fluctuation.

At the end of the book, he sketches out the famous Borde-Guth-Vilenkin theorem according to which an inflationary universe must have a beginning from the standpoint of the observer in the universe. This book offers clear lucid explanations of many difficult inflationary concepts which is a remarkable science writing achievement.

[Jessada Karnjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

เป็นหนังสือที่ให้อารมณ์เหมือน Alex Vilenkin เล่าให้คุณฟัง ชวนคุณคุย เกี่ยวกับความเป็นไปของจักรวาลวิทยาสมัยใหม่ เนื้อหาตอนที่หนึ่งกับบทแรกของตอนที่สอง อ่านค่อนข้างง่ายครับ เป็นความรู้ทั่วไป และตำนาน antigravity stone ส่วนบทที่เหลือ ถึงแม้ Vilenkin จะชวนคุยในแบบที่คุณฟังดูสนุก น่าตื่นเต้น แต่ไม่ใช่เรื่องที่เข้าใจตามได้ง่ายเลย ไอเดียหลักที่ Vilenkin ขายใน Many Worlds in One คือ เอกภพในแบบที่พองตัวตลอดกาล (eternally inflating universe) โดยพวกเราอยู่ในเกาะของเอกภพส่วนที่หยุดพองตัวแล้ว คำว่าตลอดกาลนี้ไม่ได้หมายถึงถ้าหากย้อยเวลากลับไปสู่อดีต จะสามารถย้อนกลับไปได้โดยไม่มีจุดเริ่มต้นนะครับ แต่หมายถึงพองตัวเดินหน้าไปในอนาคตได้ตลอดกาล เหตุที่ไม่สามารถไม่มีจุดเริ่มต้น ผู้เขียนร่วมกับ Guth และ Borde ได้พิสูจน์ในทางคณิตศาสตร์เอาไว้แล้วว่า ตราบเท่าที่อัตราการขยายตัวของเอกภพเป็นบวก ยังไงซะเอกภพก็ต้องมีจุดเริ่มต้น (บทที่ 16) ทีนี้ลักษณะของเอกภพเกาะในส่วนที่เราอยู่อาศัยซึ่งหยุดพองตัวแล้วนั้น รอบ ๆ เกาะก็ยังคงพองตัว ทำให้มีพื้นที่เพิ่มขึ้นสำหรับเอกภพเกาะใหม่ ๆ ที่จะเกิดขึ้น และตามความเป็นจริง มันจะต้องมีเอกภพเกาะอยู่มากมาย จึงมีลักษณะเป็น many worlds in one ในความหมายนี้แตกต่างจาก many worlds ซึ่งเป็นการตีความกลศาสตร์ควอนตัมของ Hugh Everett นะ ถ้า Everett ถูก มันก็เป็น many many worlds นอกจากนี้ คนภายในเอกภพเกาะยังสังเกตเห็นเอกภพของตนมีขอบเขตเป็นอนันต์อีกด้วย! Vilenkin อภิปรายทั้งผลสืบเนื่องและจุดกำเนิด รวมถึงปรัชญาของ eternally inflating universe หนังสืออ่านสนุกมาก แต่ก็ยากจริงอะไรจริง ไม่กล้าพูดว่าอ่านรู้เรื่องทั้งหมด ส่วนที่ผมรู้สึกว่าสนุกเป็นพิเศษคือ ตอนที่แกเล่าหรือเผาเพื่อนนักฟิสิกส์ด้วยกัน มีเกร็ดเฮฮาน่ารัก ๆ เพียบครับ

[Julio Astudillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me, this is the first book on quantum cosmology. Most of the time we refer to cosmology as something related to space time or something "big", such as the cosmos itself, and whatever related to that, concerning Einstein's theories, or Euclidean geometry or DeSitter space, but, this one tackles cosmology from a quantum perspective: all that's related to both Plank's time and length. This is not something related to Spiderman's Multiverses or anything like it: this is a science book and you may need some background to deeply understand this kind of concepts, specially what we call "vacuum".

Definitely won't be my last book on this subject, but I do recognize that it is a bit hard to get my hands on these kind of books.

[Peja · Rating 2 out of 5]

An exploration of cosmology and quantum physics- specifically focusing on different theories that could probably be summarized as "many-worlds centric". I didn't find this book spectacular in any aspect, the summaries of basic ideas weren't anything incredible and it wasn't the easiest thing to read and understand from a general perspective. I did think, around the quarter-way mark, there was a pretty good transition from general knowledge to the basis of the many-worlds theory- but beyond that I would probably recommend another book for the same type of information.

[Voyt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vilenkin's "Believe it or Not"
POSTED BY ME AT AMAZON 2006
Here we have another true popular science book. This time it is about models of Universe seen through the prism of read-hot topic of vacuum and scalar fields.
Extremely well written and full of speculations text explains differences between models of: One Eternally Inflating Universe, Cycling Universe, Bubbling Universe, Multiverses (including Tegemark's mathematical structures) and Parallel Universes. Strong emphasis is given to proof that there was a beginning from nothing either by quantum tunneling or by quantum origin called "no boundary". Only necessary facts, little time author wastes for repeating humdrum subjects of Einstein's relativities avoiding complexity and details of particle/string physics (good!). Closing his book Vilenkin touches delicate issues of Anthropic Principle and Creation. And he does it with a great sensitivity. Just because "nothing can be created from nothing" - this does not preclude possibility of the Mind that predated the Universe. He concludes: possibly mathematics is the Law we constantly discover (not create).
Believe in all what is lectured here or simply take it as a "s-f" - it is up to the reader. However book is spectacular and provoking, highly recommended for all cosmology hobbyists.

[Robin Yeo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deep, trippy, and surprisingly readable for a book on modern cosmology, I definitely enjoyed this one and learned a ton but also had to re-read some pages multiple times to make sure I was following along!

[Henry Andersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not smart enough to fully understand this book

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vilenkin does a good job of explaining complex scientific topics in simple terms, which is laudable. Unfortunately, much of what he explains are the fundamentally untestable fads of the String Theory era, and I generally prefer science fiction to have more creative storytelling.

[Rama Rao · Rating 2 out of 5]

A theoretical search for parallel universes

This book is not for the faint hearted; it requires basic knowledge of physics and cosmology. Parallel universes, also known as multiverse are a set of universes that comprise all of physical and quantum reality. Our universe is a very small island in a vast ocean of numerous universes separated by false vacuum; in essence these are a set of disconnected space-time domains, and our reach to another universe in the multiverse is constrained by special theory of relativity. Parallel universes have been theoretically predicted by several cosmologists, and the structure of a universe and relationship with other universes depend on the theory.

The book chapter 1-4 introduces relativity and cosmology, and chapters 5-11 discuss the central ideas of eternal cosmic inflation: Einstein used the antigravity of the vacuum in the universe to balance the gravitational pull of matter to keep the universe static, and called this cosmological constant. There are two types of vacuum; false vacuum and true vacuum. According to modern theories of elementary particles, vacuum is a physical object and it can only be charged with energy and can exist in different states. The lowest energy vacuum is true vacuum. High energy vacuum state is called false vacuum, and because it is unstable it decays into true vacuum; releasing the excess energy in a fiery burst (Big bang) of fundamental particles. There are two false vacuum states; electroweak and grand unified vacuum, and both have more symmetry and less diversity among particles and their interactions. For example, in electroweak vacuum, electrons are mass-less and are like neutrinos, in addition electromagnetic, and weak interactions have the same strength and manifested as a single force. In the grand unified vacuum, all three types of particle interactions are unified, and electrons, neutrons and quarks are interchangeable. For false vacuum repulsion is three times stronger than gravity. At an early epoch when the universe was in a state of false vacuum the matter density was insufficient to balance the universe in a static state, at this time repulsive gravity of the false vacuum may have prevailed leading the universe into a frenzied expansion with much of the space occupied by false vacuum. One of the requirements is that the false vacuum must decay smoothly, after at least several hundreds of doubling time, so that the universe would have expanded beyond the current observable part, and thereby preventing the universe to collapse before it had the opportunity to expand. During inflation, two rival processes were occurring; false vacuum decay characterized by a half-life, and false vacuum-space-multiplication (expansion) characterized by its doubling time. False vacuum regions multiply (expand) much faster than they decay. This means that the inflation never ends in the multiverse and the volume of inflating regions keeps growing unabated resulting in eternal inflation. According to this theory, at any given moment some distant parts of the multiverse are filled with false vacuum and are undergoing exponential inflationary expansion, but regions like ours the inflation has ended (inflation must not be confused with normal universe expansion). Because of inflation the space between these islands (individual universe) rapidly expands making room for more island universes to form; this inflation becomes a runaway process. The decay of the last false vacuum in any particular region of the multiverse results in a Big Bang releasing the vast amounts of energy in the form fundamental particles. This is a one time event for one universe but Big bang is not a one time event in multiverse manifold.

The author knows that the physical evidence for the existence of parallel universes (multiverse) is impossible to obtain because of the limitations imposed by special theory of relativity. In an era of modern cosmology and String theory, the stringent requirements for experimental evidences in support of mathematical calculations have been greatly violated. Many publishers and authors have misused this situation to their advantage to market a product that is a more a science fiction than a scientific reality.

[Fred Kohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most wonderful book on cosmology I ever read, but it was good enough. It was somewhat simplistic compared to Steinhardt's book on Ekpyrosis and especially Penrose's book on Conformal Cyclical Cosmology. I suppose that that is either an advantage or a flaw depending on your point of view. I think Vilenkin exaggerates the entropy problem in these cyclic models, but surely there wasn't room for him to totally explain his reasoning in this book, and it would have taken him far afield from his main emphasis. This is the first book I have read on Eternal Inflation and I certainly came away from this book feeling that I understand it a lot better than I did going into it.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, as challenging as it certainly was. I read it upon the recommendation of my science-loving husband, and one of the joys of the book was actually impressing him with my ability to read it start to finish. (He called me Physics Girl while I was reading it--NOT an insult, coming from him--or anyone?? But definitely NOT his usual nickname for me!)

I will quote the author from the fly leaf of the book: "The intended reader of this book is someone who, looking upward at the starry sky, occasionally wonders where it all came from, and how our little Earth and our civilization fit into the grand scheme of things. My goal is to tell this reader about a new picture of the universe--initially resisted by the vast majority of physicists--that has gradually emerged over the past two decades and is now becoming the accepted cosmological paradigm. I will try to make the book easy to read and maximally entertaining, using the story of my personal quest as a backdrop for discussion of the scientific ideas." I could not understand EVERY concept in this book (and didn't let it worry me), but compliments to Alex Vilenkin that I understood ANY of it--and actually enjoyed the reading.

Also on the fly-leaf, the publisher writes, "With this book--his first for the general reader--Vilenkin joins another select group: the handful of first-rank scientists who are adept at explaining their work to non-specialists. With engaging, well-paced story-telling, a droll sense of humor, and a generous sprinkling of helpful cartoons, he conjures up a bizarre and fascinating new worldview that--to paraphrase Niels Bohr--might just be crazy enough to be true."

I don't recommend this book casually to everyone. After all, not everyone will have the powerful drive to achieve the nickname "Physics Girl" or "Physics Boy." But...it's readable, and my view of the universe is absolutely enriched by having taken a guest seat at this fascinating lecture on "the search for other universes."

[Huyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My problem with this kind of book is that you can't really learn much from it. Either, you work in the field, know all the math and physics behind it, then it's useless to read this book. Or you don't work in the field, and you try to understand the over-simplified version he tries to explain, but it still doesn't make sense.
e.g: If you compress an object, its gravity is enhanced, and if you stretch it, gravity is reduced. if you could keep stretching the object without breaking it, you could in principle reduce gravity to the point of completely neutralizing it, or even making it repulsive. The repulsive gravity of vacuum tension is more than sufficient to overcome the attractive pull of its mass.
or: if false vacuum is surrounded by true vacuum, the tension inside is not balanced by any force outside and causes the false vacuum chunk to shrink because gravitational repulsion is purely internal.
I thought I was reading ancient Greek. But no, this book is full of "explanations" of this kind. I could pretend that I understand what the words are saying, but no, frankly I totally don't understand his theory. Give me some time to learn general relativity, and possibly many more years to learn inflation theory from its math, and it might make sense. And I also disagree with his logic that "if the theory of inflation is supported by the data in the observable part of the universe, shouldn't we also believe its conclusions about the parts we cannot observe?". I mean isn't that ludicrous? Inflation theory is not set in stone yet, there are still many problems with explaining large scale structure and dark matter. This is guesswork, extending it to the unobservable is merely too far-fetched, too speculative, and pointless. If it is unobservable, that means it's not going to have any causal link to us, so why even bother?

[Elena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Честно говоря, когда я читаю подобные книги (о современных изысканиях в области физики и около) меня все чаще посещает мысль, что в наше время физик может высказать любую умопомрачительную гипотезу (за которую писателя-фантаста бы сразу же переместили в раздел фэнтези) и через некоторое время найдется кто-то или что-то, что ее подтвердит, какой бы невероятной она не казалась изначально.
*Мир многих миров. Физики в поисках параллельных вселенных* вновь натолкнули меня на подобные мысли - первая половина книги на мой дилетантский физический ум была сложновата, но потом процесс пошел куда веселее и интереснее (почти Питер Уоттс:) Но, однако, сказать, что у меня осталось чувство прочтения хорошего научпопа я не могу - все-таки слишком обрывисто и не очень убедительно излагается материал, хотя сама идея нашей Вселенной как небольшого острова в огромном океане многочисленных других вселенных, разделенных ложным вакуумом (хм... да) - небезынтересна, но все это больше похоже на научную фантастику (ток-шоу на тему так сказать).

[Read It · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting Book, I am firm believe in the Inflation theory. Mr. Vilenkin did a wonderful job at describing who his comrades where Andre Linde and Alan Guth and Stephen Hawking and also showed some noticeable rivalry for Paul Steinhardt & Princeton Boys. It does appear Steinahardt likes to get under some peoples skin.

In the book, Vilenkin does an outstanding job at describing what a true vacuum is, a false vacuum, Negative vacuum, The Scalar Field, density perturbations, Inflationary Process and etc.

I enjoy his his talks with Stephan Hawkings and in the early 1980's, when Hawking invited the top physicists at his retreat to discuss AstroPhysics.

He made a point to read Russian Physics Journals, since many of great ideas go UN-noticed.

Talks about Island Universes, Kickbacks, Our Universe, Parallel Universes and many other topics.

Very good book.

[Pavlo Hodysh · Rating 5 out of 5]

На кінець я дочитав цю книжку. Починав читати тричі, ніяк не міг дочитати, бо хотілось розібрати і зрозуміти всі концепції. Що далі читаєш цю книгу, то більше потрібно розуміти абстракції і складних концепцій. Тим не менше, сама книга дуже цікава, захоплива, гарно написана і містить доволі багато прикладів, котрі помагають уявити складні коценпції. Тут описано багато можливих моделей всесвіту та мультиверсу, розказується про основні проблеми і та аргументи за чи проти кожну модель. Мені здається, про такі складні теорії, книга простішою бути не могла б. Чудова книга, рекомендую!

[Andrej Savin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most inspiring books on cosmology ever written. It does require a basic (albeit not huge) knowledge of cosmology but it rewards a patient reader enormously. In some ways, it is even clearer in explaining the "universe from nothing" idea than Lawrence Krauss's book. Highely recommended.

[Evgeniy Lapin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 звезды только за сложность для человека плохо знающего физику (для меня). В остальном книга - бомба. Тот самый случай, когда фраза Кларка "Любая достаточно развитая технология неотличима от магии" очень в тему ибо книга объясняет за фантастику/фэнтези в разы лучше чем сонм авторов.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too scientific for me.

[Brian Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cool take on a cosmology book. Offers different views and perspectives compared to other books out there.

[Aaron]

AWESOME AND EXCITING READ ABOUT THE HISTORY OF ASTROPHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY AND THE RECENT ADVANCEMENTS IN COSMOLOGY, AND QUANTUM MECHANICS. EXPLORES THE POSSIBILITY OF A MULTIVERSE OF UNIVERSES.

[Steve Clark]

Edition: 1st

[Ilya · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a nice, relatively easy to read book about cosmology. The language is quite simple and this book could be recommended for those who are looking for general overview of current cosmological concepts and theories. No math or some complex thought, but sometimes it requires to break your mind to understand ideas behind the scene of our Universe.