Physicists Prove We Are Living in A Computer

Simulated Matrix
Posted by christina on Aug 18, 2014
Like the appearance of silver in mother of pearl, the world seems real until the Self, the
underlying reality, is realized. ~ Adi Shankarcarya
hat Al!ert "instein termed optical delusion,
#he $ndians termed %aya or $llusion. ~ %ohit &. %isra
This post appeared at io9.com
Back in 200, !"#ord pro#essor $ick Bostrom suggested that %e may be &i'ing in a computer
simu&ation. (n his paper, Bostrom o##ered 'ery &itt&e science to support his hypothesis ) though he
did ca&cu&ate the computationa& re*uirements needed to pu&& o## such a #eat. And indeed, a
phi&osophica& c&aim is one thing, actua&&y pro'ing it is *uite another. But no%, a team o# physicists
say proo# might be possib&e, and that it+s a matter o# #inding a cosmo&ogica& signature that %ou&d
ser'e as the pro'erbia& ,ed Pi&& #rom the %atri'. And they think they kno% %hat it is.
According to -i&as Beane and his team at the .ni'ersity o# Bonn in /ermany, a simu&ation o# the
uni'erse shou&d sti&& ha'e constraints, no matter ho% po%er#u&. These &imitations, they argue, %ou&d
be obser'ed by the peop&e %ithin the simu&ation as a kind o# constraint on physica& processes.
0"pand
-o, ho% cou&d %e e'er hope to identi#y these constraints1 0asy2 3e 4ust need bui&d our o%n
simu&ation o# the uni'erse and #ind out. And in #act, this is #air&y c&ose to %hat the physicists are
actua&&y trying to do. To that end, they+'e created an u&tra5sma&& 'ersion o# the uni'erse that+s do%n
to the #emto5sca&e 6%hich is e'en sma&&er than the nano5sca&e7.
And to he&p iso&ate the sought5a#ter signature, the physicists are simu&ating *uantum
chromodynamics 689:7, %hich is the #undamenta& #orce in nature that gi'es rise to the strong
nuc&ear #orce among protons and neutrons, and to nuc&ei and their interactions. To rep&ace the space5
time continuum, they are computing tiny, tight&y spaced cubic ;&attices.< They ca&& this ;&attice
gauge theory< and it is subse*uent&y pro'iding ne% insights into the nature o# matter itse&#.
(nteresting&y, the researchers consider their simu&ation to be a #orerunner to more po%er#u& 'ersions
in %hich mo&ecu&es, ce&&s, and e'en humans themse&'es might someday be generated. But #or no%,
they+re interested in creating accurate mode&s o# cosmo&ogica& processes ) and #inding out %hich
ones might represent hard &imits #or simu&ations.
To that end, they ha'e in'estigated the /reisen=>atsepin=?u@min &imit 6or />? cut5o##7 as a
candidate ) a cut5o## in the spectrum o# high energy partic&es. The />? cut5o## is particu&ar&y
promising because it beha'es *uite interesting&y %ithin the 89: mode&.
According to the (hysics ar)iv b&og, this cut5o## is %e&& kno%n and comes about %hen high energy
partic&es interact %ith the cosmic micro%a'e background, thus &osing energy as they tra'e& &ong
distances. The researchers ha'e ca&cu&ated that the &attice spacing imposes some additiona& #eatures
on the spectrum, name&y that the angu&ar distribution o# the highest energy components shou&d
e"hibit cubic symmetry in the rest o# the &attice 6causing it to de'iate signiAcant&y #rom isotropy7.
;(n other %ords,< %rite the arBi' b&oggers, ;the cosmic rays %ou&d tra'e& pre#erentia&&y a&ong the
a"es o# the &attice, so %e %ou&dn+t see them e*ua&&y in a&& directions.<
And that %ou&d be the kind o# re'ea& the physicists are &ooking #or ) an indication that there is
indeed a man hiding behind the curtain.
And %hat+s particu&ar&y #ascinating about this is that %e can make this measurement no% %ith our
current &e'e& o# techno&ogy. As the researchers point out, #inding this e##ect %ou&d be the same as
Cseeing+ the orientation o# the &attice on %hich our o%n uni'erse is simu&ated.
That said, the researchers caution that #uture computer mode&s may uti&i@e comp&ete&y di##erent
paradigms, ones that are outside o# our comprehension. Doreo'er, this %i&& on&y %ork i# the &attice
cut5o## remains consistent %ith %hat %e see in nature.
At any rate, it+s a remarkab&e suggestion ) one that cou&d ser'e as an important #orerunner to
#urther research and insights into this #asinating possibi&ity.