Nooks and crannies in the omniverse

After Fig. 4.2 of John D Barrow's The Constants of Nature

• NM: Newton's mechanics (G=h=1/c=0)
• NG: Newton's theory of gravity (h=1/c=0; G≠0)
• SR: Einstein's special relativity theory (h=G=0; 1/c≠0)
• QM: Quantum mechanics (G=1/c=0; h≠0)
• GR: Einstein's general theory of relativity (h=0; G≠0; 1/c≠0)
• QFT: Relativistic quantum mechanics (G=0; h≠0; 1/c≠0)
• NQG: Newtonian quantum gravity (1/c=0; G≠0; h≠0)
• TOE: Relativistic quantum gravity (G≠0; h≠0; 1/c≠0)

George Gamow (Mr Tompkins in Paperback) asked questions about some of these constants. What would our universe be like if the speed of light were 186 miles per hour rather than 186,000 miles per second? What if Planck's constant were very large? His purpose was to teach an understanding of special relativity and quantum mechanics.

My purpose is to explore the consequences for our universe sitting alongside other universes with different speeds of light, different values for Planck's constant, and so on as part of an n-dimensional omniverse.

[I'm not sure that I have used the correct terminology here, so I'll try to define exactly what I mean by the term 'omniverse'. Our existence is in a universe defined by three spatial dimensions, time and a number (Ω) of 'constants'. Other universes may exist with different values of the Ω 'constants'. My definition of an omniverse is the co-existence of all these universes in a (4+Ω)-dimensional entity.]

So, what keeps our universe 'on the rails' laid down by its values of C, G and h? And is there an influence of our universe on those adjacent; or vice versa?

But above all else, is there any reason to believe that we live in a 'special' universe rather than in a nook or cranny of the omniverse that has properties favorable to our existence? If we inhabit this niche, then anthropic principles (e.g. see Barrow & Tipler The Anthropic Cosmological Principle) become an irrelevance!

Food for lazy brains

George Gamow has published some really stimulating books on modern physics. They were available while I was at college in the early 1960s. If I had read them, physics would have been far more exciting and I would have been so much more enthusiastic about my studies:

• Mr Tompkins in Paperback (Canto) comprises Mr Tomkins in Wonderland and Mr Tomkins Explores the Atom and gives fascinating insights into special relativity and quantum mechanics respectively in worlds where the speed of light is made small and Planck's constant large.
• Gravity from Newton to Einstein and beyond.
• One, Two, Three...Infinity: Facts and Speculations of Science
• The Creation of the Universe

But I didn't read them and was bored with physics and .....

I discovered Gamow's books this summer when I read The Constants of Nature by John D Barrow - and I only read that because I had enjoyed Barrow's collaboration with Frank J Tipler on The Anthropic Cosmological Principle (Oxford Paperbacks)

The good news is that I am now well and truly hooked by Roger Penrose's The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe and Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory. Let's hope that I haven't left it too late!