CONTACT, 2005

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CONTACT, 2005

• A Fountain of Universes ?

Carlo Séquin, University of California,
Berkeley
... an unusual challenge ...
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My Mainstream Work

• Geometrical design problems

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Science in Literature, Literature in Science

• A fan of science fiction
• Interested in philosophical questions about our
  existence and the origin of the universe
• No hard scientific answers
• But some visions and ideas that are best
  presented in a poetic format.

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Inspiration for Philosophical Thoughts

• Fred Brooks The Design of DesignTuring Award
  Lecture, Siggraph00, New Orleans, July 26, 2000
• Insights about the human design process
• Importance of reflecting about that process
• Try out new tentative designs ASAP.
• Let users test new tools on real-world tasks.
• This process will weed out bad designs.(quite a
  Darwinian philosophy!)

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A Key Philosophical Issue

• Conclusion of Brooks Talk
• Tribute to The Great Designer who created our
  universe.
• Awe of the intricate workings of the
  machineries we see in itphysical, chemical,
  biological laws.
• Biological machineries may have evolved through
  trial and error,
• but how did the physical constants get fine-tuned
  to make a working universe?

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Anthropic Principle

• Brandon Carter (Physicist) 1974, noted that
  physical constants must be within a very narrow
  range to enable life as we know it.
• Thus the universe appears to be fine-tuned to
  the existence of life.

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Weak Anthropic Principle

• S. Hawking, A Brief History of Time 1988
• In a very large universe, there may be a few
  isolated pockets where the conditions are
  suitable for the development of intelligent
  life.
• The intelligent beings in these regions should
  then not be surprised that in their locality the
  universe satisfies the conditions needed for
  their existence.

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Participatory Anthropic Principle

• Barrow Tipler, 1986The Anthropic
  Cosmological Principle
• An intelligent mind observing the existing
  universe collapses the wave function of all
  possible universes to the one universe that
  allows intelligent life to exist.
• (Mis)application of the concepts in the
  Copenhagen view of quantum mechanics.

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Is Earth Fine-tuned for Life ?

• It is obviously teaming with life,and a very
  wide variety at that !
• But life mostly just clings to the surface of
  the planet. There are 1021 m3 of earth that seem
  to be rather devoid of life !
• Looking at the habitat for ONE species,we find
  further restrictions.
• By diversifying, evolving life could invade
  larger portions of the planetary volume.

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Is Our Universe Fine-Tuned for Life ?

• Is our Solar System fine-tuned ? really just
  one Planet bears life.
• Is our Galaxy fine tuned ? so far we know of
  only one star that has life around it. No SETI
  signals received yet.
• Is our Universe fine tuned ? if it means to
  make life at least possible,then YES. but
  if you were a cosmic engineer, couldnt you
  design a universe that would be much more
  friendly to life ?

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Universe Design by Mere Statistics

• Perhaps there is a huge number of universes,
• but most of them have
• -- no atoms
• -- no stars
• -- no planets
• -- no reproductive mechanism
• -- no life
• -- no intelligence
• -- no consciousness
• -- no philosophical
  curiosity
• Who would notice these universes ?

• But occasionally the right conditions will
  appear !

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Our Home is One of Many ...

• Earth used to be at the center ...
• Earth is one of several planets
• Our sun is like billions of other stars
• Our galaxy is like billions of other ones
• Are there billions of other universes?What is
  the machinery that created them all ?

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A Fountain of Universes ?

• Poetic vision of the machinery that spews out
  googols of universes
• triggered by the view of a water fountain ...
• which in turn raised memories of a poem
  Der Römische Brunnen by Conrad Ferdinand
  Meyer (1825-1898).

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Der Römische Brunnen

• Roman Fountain (Translation by C.H. Séquin)
• High soars the jet, then falls and fills
• a bowl of marble to its bound,
• which yields the rippled surface spills
• into a second stony round.
• This second overflowing urn
• then fills a third, its surface sways
• and each one takes and gives in turn,
• and flows and stays.

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C. F. Meyer (1825-1898)

• Der Römische Brunnen
• Auf steigt der Strahl, und fallend giesst
• Er voll der Marmorschale Rund,
• Die, sich verschleiernd, überfliesst
• In einer zweiten Schale Grund
• Die zweite gibt, sie wird zu reich,
• Der dritten wallend ihre Flut,
• Und jede nimmt und gibt zugleich
• Und strömt und ruht.

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Inspiration for a Poetic Formulation(Describe
the origin of the universe in verses?)

• V. V. Nabokov Pale Fire Vintage Books, New
  York (1989).
• Hypertext document predating the Web
• Structure
• Introduction
• The 4 Cantos (1000 lines)
• Extensive cross-referenced commentarylinked to
  line numbers in the cantosas well as to each
  other.

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Organization of My Presentation

• Four very short cantos as a sampling of a
  possible poetic description of some hypothetical
  machinery that creates googols (10100) of
  universes.
• Present my commentaries beforehandto make
  understanding of the cantos easier(since you
  hear them only once).

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Canto One A More Powerful Fountain

• A more energetic water jet fountain
• A wider variety of sculpted watery forms
• More splatter, far-flung droplets

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Canto One Jet Fountain

• Roman fountain

More energetic jet fountain
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Canto One Fountain of Universes

• Upward soars a silver jet
• of liquid substance, blue and wet,
• a central column, fanning out
• in many branches from the spout
• then spreading into fragile sheets
• and stretching into strings of beads.
• The sculpture has suspended state,
• then must revert, disintegrate.

The lattice carved from silver streams is
punctured by the rising beams it twists and
spreads and breaks apart, a million drops are
flung afar. They travel high and wide through
space, then fall to earth in many ways, in
soaring arches reach the ground, retiring in the
fountains pond.
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Canto Two The View From Within

• Try to imagine
• What would it be like to experience the fountain
  from within one of its droplets.
• Verse Two
• Can creatures in these droplets actually look
  out?
• Perhaps their world is completely self-centered.
• Later Equate each drop with a whole universe--
  implying a vast change in scale and time.
• Some of these universes may be interesting--
  with teaming life inside,
• others may just be an empty drop of water

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Canto Two The View From Within

• What would you see looking out ?

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Canto Two The View From Within

• The liquid arch is more than H2O,
• a mixture rich in mud and life.
• Each drop, a tiny world of goo,
• enjoys a parabolic ride.
• Within each flying cubby-hole,
• what views they might behold!
• But can they see beyond their drop,
• and recognize the fountain top?

On a scale much more constrained each drop
defines a universe. Life, completely
self-contained, knows nothing of the drops
traverse. Alone each world must take its
ride. Perhaps there is some life inside, that
marvels why it does exist perhaps, its just a
drop of mist.
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Canto Three Another Model ...

• Fountain imagery may best describe the
  steady-state model of our universe.
• Big Bang currently the most plausible theory
  for the origin of our universe in its current
  form.
• As to the expected end of our universe, there is
  evidence that it will expand forever and might
  end in an infinitely thinned-out, dark and cold
  state.
• Canto Three tries to make an analogy with
  fireworks.

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Canto Three Fireworks Analogy

• Fireworks picture

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Canto Three Fireworks Analogy
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Canto Three Fireworks Analogy
Countless pods of fire power crisscross the
chaos in the sky, exploding too, just moments
later, creating one grandiose display. Each
tiny rocket is a barge among a thousand points of
light, coasting through the void at large
dying cinders fill the night.

• A sizzling plume of smoke and fire,
• billows high into the night.
• A blinding flash atop that spire
• makes blazing suns of brilliant light.
• Whirling patterns, shooting stars,
• different colors fight their wars
• expanding, dancing fire rings,
• whirl away on smoking wings.

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How Many Drops / Sparks / Universes ?

• Fireworks
• 102 - 103 rockets, 103 - 105 explosions per
  rocket,
• ? 105 - 108 sparks in the air.
• A Medium Jet
• 10m high, 10cm2 cross section,
• ? 4107 mm3-droplets.
• Very Large Jet
• 150m high, 500 liters/sec,
• ? 5109 mm3-droplets.

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Our Universe

• Many many galaxies

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with Many Many Stars !
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Really Large Numbers

• Fireworks,
• ? 105 - 108 sparks in the air.
• A medium jet,
• ? 4107 mm3-droplets.
• A very large jet,
• ? 5109 mm3-droplets.
• Our Universe,
• 1011 galaxies with 1011 stars,
• ? 1022 droplets.
• (1080 protons)

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Hubble Deep Field
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Really Large Numbers !

• Consider 1022 parallel universes ...
• or even
• 1080 parallel universes ...
• ... some of them have to hit a good combination
  of natural constants !

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Canto Four Structural Evolution

• Getting into really interesting questions
• Can interesting structure arise without the
  guiding hand of a designer?
• If the physical laws are just right, can
  structure arise based solely on expected
  statistics?
• How wide is the variety of generated worlds ?
• How narrow is the range of laws that favors
  formation of structure / life ?

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Canto Four Structural Evolution
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Canto Four (1) Structural Evolution
A spreading, whirling, broiling mass of
thinning dust and heated gas cooling drops of
molten stone in circling orbits all
alone. Comets crash evaporate, bring ice and
water to the plate. Sun and ice attack the crust,
grind the stone to sand and dust.
Swirls of dust and whirls of gas clusters
form, attracting mass. Space is warped and forces
rise, drawing clumps to their demise. Pressure
mounts, lets atoms fuse. Some glow emerges,
first diffuse. A point of light a fire ball,
exploding fast, devouring all.
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Canto Four Structural Evolution
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Canto Four (2) Structural Evolution
Glaciers grow and then retreat. Volcanoes burst
in giant plumes, lightning strikes, producing
heat, mixing gases, blending fumes. Atoms dance
and build new matter, joining pieces in a
ladder a twisted double helix strand lets life
begin and make a stand.
A puff of wind a few grains move, another puff
they form some mounds a few more blows to form
a groove, and further ridges, and their
bounds. Dunes and valleys, mountains, canyons,
all channel water into flow that carves away
eroding bastions, forming caves in rock below.
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(My) Conclusions

• Everything in our universe happens in very large
  numbers.
• A very large number of universes makes it very
  likely that something interesting is going to
  happen in some of them.
• How all these universes came about to be will
  remain an open scientific question.

Lets enjoy the one we have !
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Questions ? Discussion !