Evidence for Multiverse Found?

[IM Egdall]

In her video, cosmologist and astrophysicist Laura Mersini-Houghton says the Planck Space Telescope has found evidence for multiple universes predicted by string theory. They are:

• Cold spot where 1/6th of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is empty.
• Suppression of the CMB at the largest scales.
• Monopoles, dipoles, and quadripoles aligned with each other (the so-called axis of evil).

If this is so, it has to be the greatest scientific discovery of the century.

 

So why isn't there more about this in the news?

 

Video link: How to Find a Multiverse http://iai.tv/video/how-to-find-a-multiverse

 

Link discussing this issue http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=5907

[Strange]

If this is so, it has to be the greatest scientific discovery of the century.

 

I heard her talking about this a while ago. It was very interesting, but I felt she was rather overstating the strength of the evidence (caveat: I am not an expert in any of the relevant fields!)

 

 

So why isn't there more about this in the news?

 

Because it still speculative and few other scientists agree with her interpretation of the evidence. Or, in some case, that the evidence even exists.

[IM Egdall]

Dr. Houghton could be overstating the case, or she could be right. This may be one of those times when a new discovery is valid but doubted by the general community of physicists at first. If so, what a discovery!

 

And I haven't heard of any other explanations for the data anomalies in the Planck CMB. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this plays out.

 

I would like to know some specific numbers on this, like what are the exact predictions and how do they compare numerically with actual measurements. (And what are the error bars in the measurements,)

 

Anyone have any more info or thoughts on this?

[Strange]

The article you linked to says:

 

The Planck team’s paper appears to rule out the claims of Kashlinsky and collaborators,” says David Spergel of Princeton University, who was not involved in the work. If there is no dark flow, there is no need for exotic explanations for it, such as other universes, says Planck team member Elena Pierpaoli at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. “You don’t have to think of alternatives.

 

So it may be that with the more accurate data provided by Planck, the "evidence" has gone away.