Science & Technology

Are we living in a holographic universe ?

By T.K. Randall
December 17, 2013

Image: The Scale of the Universe
Credit: ESA/Hubble/D. Calzetti et al. / CC BY 4.0 (adapted) The concept of a real-life holographic universe was first proposed by physicist Juan Maldacena in 1997 who suggested that gravity is comprised of thin vibrating strings that exist in nine dimensions and that the higher dimensional part of the universe, the part we experience, is 'coded' on to a lower dimensional plain similar to how a three-dimensional holographic image is coded on to a flat, two-dimensional surface.Evidence for this idea was recently uncovered through a comparison of two studies, one examining black holes in the higher dimensional part of the universe and the other examining the energies of the corresponding lower dimensional universe.

Interestingly the results matched, indicating that there may be more to the idea of a holographic universe than previously believed. While far from conclusive, these studies nonetheless offer a tantalizing glimpse in the direction of a solution to not only the structure of the universe, but also to the nature of reality itself.

Source: Extreme Tech

Tags: Holographic, Universe