What exactly is meant by a parralell universe?

Question

What exactly is meant by a parralell universe?

Answer 1

I think that a parallel universe is something like a tree with many branches on it.

for example  imagine you were on a small boat on a river that had many other little rivers to the right and left side of it that you can turn left or right whichever way you wished too.

The river that you are currently on will always travel in a one dimensional direction.

so its kinda weird i know, but a parallel universe is sort of like a mirror reflecting different outcomes of whatever decisions we make.

Answer 2

A universe that is seperate but an exact replica of the one you are living in.  Just think of it as a mirror image.

Answer 3

in theory a parallel universe is an identical copy of an existing universe but on a different 'plane' .  We live in a 3 dimensional world but what if a 4th and 5th dimension is commonplace in the cosmos but just not within our grasp of understanding.  The concept of a parrallel universe may exist.

Answer 4

sort of like this:

_________

our Universe

_________

_________

parallel Universe

_________

get it?

Answer 5

This thought boggles the mind and yet, it is still comprehensible. Notions of parallel universes or dimensions that resemble our own have appeared in works of science fiction and have been used as explanations for metaphysics. But why would a young up-and-coming physicist possibly risk his future career by posing a theory about parallel universes?

Answer 6

It is thought to be completely oposite or "parallel" to the universe we live foe example perhaps in this universe you would wear gloves on your feet and shoes on your hands!!

but seriously this as caused quite a stir in the field of physics and now scientists like myself belive there could be more than one parallel universe

Answer 7

Okay, it's a potential solution to the quantum measurement problem. You have an object, it can be in either state x, or y. Quantum mechanics says that it's both until you observe it. If the parallel universe idea is right, it is both, and when you observe it, in one universe, it takes state x, and in the other, it takes state y.

Okay, to illustrate, you have a kitty cat. A very, very cute, furry, kitten. And it's in a box. There's absolutely no way you can see kitty. Kitty is sad and lonely =(. But never fear, for there's a 50% chance that toxic gas will be released into the box, killing kitty, and ending it's loneliness. Until you open the box, you won't know of kitty is alive or dead. Quantum mechanics says that kitty is both, until you open the box. If the parallal universes theory is correct, then kitty will be dead in one universe, and alive in another.

The basic idea: A universe is created for which each possibility is facilitated.

Kitty cats are soft...