1 - 2D & 3D information in the universe
Jacob Beckenstein of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has discovered that the information content of a black hole is proportional to the area of its event horizon, the border that separates “normal” space from the un-escapable interior.
Theorists have since shown that the quantum ripples of that surface can encode the information inside the black hole. I.e. the information inside a black hole is not unreachable or lost but projected on the event horizons surface.
2 - Unknown interference
A German experiment called GEO600 is trying to pick up evidence of gravitational waves. To measure this, a laser beam is sent out through a beam splitter, splitting the beam in two directions at right angle to each other. The two beams travel each a distance of 600 m, reflects back and are merged together again in the beam splitter. If a gravitational wave has passed the equipment interference is expected. This because a gravitational wave is expected to stretch space in one direction and squeeze it in another and by so making the beams travel different distances.
But the experiment is suffering from unknown noise in the merging pattern.
Quantum fluctuations (the temporary change in the amount of energy in a point in space) are ruled out, because thay are far to small to measured.
3 - We are 2D
Craig Hogan, physicist at Fermilab particle physics lab in Batavia has an interesting idea. What if the universe has a border, like the black hole has its event horizon? If so, it would, according to Hogan, be built up by Planck-sized squares, each containing one bit of information. Together holding all information about the universe.
The Planck length is the smallest distance or size about which anything can be known in our universe, like pixels in the world of computer monitors, the small squares that make up the image on the screen. You can't get more information out of a picture than all it's pixels.
Since the information contained in the universe must match that of the surface, the Planck length may not be the smallest part inside the universe since the volume of the universe is larger than its surface.
Hogan has done his math and predicted what the noise of this “large” fluctuations in space-time would look like . And guess what? It fits the noise of the GEO600 experiment!
This could mean, says Hogan, that we live in a holographic projection. That nothing really happens here, but on the surface of the universe.
1+2+3+4 = ?
Is this comparable with our own computer simulations. Like 3d computer games experienced in two dimensions on computer and TV screens?
And if you add Nick Bostroms paper “Are you living in a computer simulation?” to the equation?
[ABSTRACT. This paper argues that at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) the human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage; (2) any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof); (3) we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation. It follows that the belief that there is a significant chance that we will one day become posthumans who run ancestor-simulations is false, unless we are currently living in a simulation. A number of other consequences of this result are also discussed.]
Sources:
- New Scientist, article, Our world may be a giant hologram (15 January 2009 by Marcus Chown)
- Nick Bostrom, Department of Philosophy, Oxford University, paper, Are you living in a computer simulation? (July 2001)
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