Ethan Siegel: Don’t trust experiments that claim there are parallel universes

parallel worlds/Public Domain

This sounds so sensible, we thought theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder would say it. But astrophysicist Ethan Siegel said it:

Any time you get a positive signal from an experiment, you cannot simply take that signal at face value. Signals can only be understood in relation to the noise background of the experiment, which is a combination of every other physical process that contributes to the result. Unless you quantify that background and understand the source of everything that your final signal is composed of, you cannot hope to conclude you’ve discovered a new phenomenon in nature.

Science progresses one experiment at a time, and it’s always the full suite of evidence that must be considered in evaluating our theories at any given time. But there is no greater false flag than an experiment pointing to a new signal extracted against a poorly understood background. In the endeavor of pushing our scientific frontiers, this is the one area that demands the highest level of skeptical scrutiny. Mirror matter and even a mirror Universe might be real, but if you want to make that extraordinary claim, you’d better make sure your evidence is equally extraordinary.

Ethan Siegel, “You Must Not Trust Experiments That Claim The Existence Of Parallel Universes” at Forbes

This is a sober position for someone who flirts with the multiverse.

See also: Physicists: A mirror universe might explain dark matter

New Scientist has seen signs of a mirror universe touching our own Broussard is about to do tests to find out if it is true. That’s fun, of course, but in reality, no one can prove it false and it will therefore always be real when cosmologists need it. It would be still more fun to see Sabine Hossenfelder tackle this one.

Did Stephen Hawking Discover A Means Of Detecting Parallel Universes Just Before He Died?

That sounds a lot like grief talking but we’ll see.

Claim: Evidence, maybe, for parallel universes

Cosmologist: Parallel Universes Are Pushing Physics Too Far?

Alternate parallel universe found. Maybe (2015)

Test parallel universes for real?

Parallel universes TESTED?

Brit mid-market tabloid says Large Hadron Collider within days of discovering parallel universe

Scientific American tells us we may live in the past of a parallel universe

and why this is supposed to be science.

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