Uploaded January 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Our reality may only be half of a pair of interacting worlds, according to new research. Physicists sometimes come up with bizarre stories that sound like science fiction. Yet some turn out to be true, like how the curvature of space and time described by Einstein was eventually confirmed by astronomical measurements. Others linger on as mere possibilities or mathematical curiosities. In a new paper, researchers investigated the imaginative possibility that our reality is only one-half of a pair of interacting worlds.
The pair of scientists realized that experiments on the electrical properties of stacked sheets of graphene produced results that resembled little universes and that the underlying phenomenon might generalize to other areas of physics.
In stacks of graphene, new electrical behaviors arise from interactions between the individual sheets, so maybe unique physics could similarly emerge from interacting layers elsewhere—perhaps in cosmological theories about the entire universe. This promotes the existence of multiverse i.e multiple parallel universes.
Stacked graphene’s exceptional electrical properties and possible connection to our reality of having a twin come from the special physics produced by patterns called moiré patterns. Moiré patterns form when two repeating patterns—anything from the hexagons of atoms in graphene sheets to the grids of window screens—overlap and one of the layers is twisted, offset, or stretched.
The patterns that emerge can repeat over lengths that are vast compared to the underlying patterns. In graphene stacks, the new patterns change the physics that plays out in the sheets, notably the electrons’ behaviors. In the special case called “magic angle graphene,” the moiré pattern repeats over a length that is about 52 times longer than the pattern length of the individual sheets, and the energy level that governs the behaviors of the electrons to drop precipitously, allowing new behaviors, including superconductivity.
Galitski and Parhizkar realized that the physics in two sheets of graphene could be reinterpreted as the physics of two two-dimensional universes where electrons occasionally hop between universes. This inspired the pair to generalize the math to apply to universes made of any number of dimensions, including our own four-dimensional one, and to explore if similar phenomena resulting from moiré patterns might pop up in other areas of physics. This started a line of inquiry that brought them face to face with one of the major problems in cosmology.
Video Editor: Team 121 Creators (bit.ly/team121x)
Narration: Sidhart Viyyapu (bit.ly/sidvoice)
Project Head: Rajkumar Shukla
Thumbnail Image Credit - Angeline Bandong
Production: World Of Science Media
©2022, World Of Science (WOS) Media. All Rights Reserved.
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Please watch: "The $1 Trillion Project Of Turning Sahara Green Again! What Could Go Wrong?" - youtu.be/mA77Pmwx9r0
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Our reality may only be half of a pair of interacting worlds, according to new research. Physicists sometimes come up with bizarre stories that sound like science fiction. Yet some turn out to be true, like how the curvature of space and time described by Einstein was eventually confirmed by astronomical measurements. Others linger on as mere possibilities or mathematical curiosities. In a new paper, researchers investigated the imaginative possibility that our reality is only one-half of a pair of interacting worlds.
The pair of scientists realized that experiments on the electrical properties of stacked sheets of graphene produced results that resembled little universes and that the underlying phenomenon might generalize to other areas of physics.
In stacks of graphene, new electrical behaviors arise from interactions between the individual sheets, so maybe unique physics could similarly emerge from interacting layers elsewhere—perhaps in cosmological theories about the entire universe. This promotes the existence of multiverse i.e multiple parallel universes.
Stacked graphene’s exceptional electrical properties and possible connection to our reality of having a twin come from the special physics produced by patterns called moiré patterns. Moiré patterns form when two repeating patterns—anything from the hexagons of atoms in graphene sheets to the grids of window screens—overlap and one of the layers is twisted, offset, or stretched.
The patterns that emerge can repeat over lengths that are vast compared to the underlying patterns. In graphene stacks, the new patterns change the physics that plays out in the sheets, notably the electrons’ behaviors. In the special case called “magic angle graphene,” the moiré pattern repeats over a length that is about 52 times longer than the pattern length of the individual sheets, and the energy level that governs the behaviors of the electrons to drop precipitously, allowing new behaviors, including superconductivity.
Galitski and Parhizkar realized that the physics in two sheets of graphene could be reinterpreted as the physics of two two-dimensional universes where electrons occasionally hop between universes. This inspired the pair to generalize the math to apply to universes made of any number of dimensions, including our own four-dimensional one, and to explore if similar phenomena resulting from moiré patterns might pop up in other areas of physics. This started a line of inquiry that brought them face to face with one of the major problems in cosmology.
Video Editor: Team 121 Creators (bit.ly/team121x)
Narration: Sidhart Viyyapu (bit.ly/sidvoice)
Project Head: Rajkumar Shukla
Thumbnail Image Credit - Angeline Bandong
Production: World Of Science Media
©2022, World Of Science (WOS) Media. All Rights Reserved.
-~-~~-~~~-~~-~-
Please watch: "The $1 Trillion Project Of Turning Sahara Green Again! What Could Go Wrong?" - youtu.be/mA77Pmwx9r0
-~-~~-~~~-~~-~-
