There is more to the universe than its
good looks. When physicists look
carefully at the cosmos, they see
mathematical patterns.
They see this when they look at how
fundamental particles interact, how
electrons orbiting inside atoms create
chemical bonds, how stars turn nuclear
energy into starlight, and how the
universe expands and forms galaxies.
The majestic beauty of nature is written in
the language of shapes, sets, and symmetries.
However, these patterns aren't quite
enough to explain the universe we see. We
need to add a few more numbers to our
equations, such as the mass of an
electron, the strength of the
electromagnetic force, and the
cosmological constant. Not even our
deepest laws explain these numbers.
So, why does our universe have this set of
fundamental constants. If these numbers
were different, what would the universe be like?
In many cases, the universe would be drastically different.
Protons and neutrons would not
join together to make nuclei, electrons
would not bind into atoms, atoms would
not bind into molecules, and molecules
would not provide the chemistry of life.
Stars would fail to shine. There would be
no galaxies, stars, or planets. The
universe's primordial protons would not
be drawn into galaxies, forged into stars,
and scattered by supernovae into the
wider universe. They wouldn't be
collected into planets, coupled with
electrons into atoms, or built into
molecules and cells.
There would be no living creatures.
They would simply float alone in empty
space. At most,
another proton would float by once every
trillion years. They would bounce off
each other and drift away for another
trillion years of solitude. Such small
changes would create boring featureless
and sterile universes.
So how did our universe - our fascinating
and flourishing universe - come to be?
Should we simply dig deeper into
fundamental physics, in the hope that it
will explain the values of the constants?
Physics describes how the universe actually is;
could it tell us how the universe must
be? Or should we invoke a cosmic lottery:
a vast and varied collection of other
universes? If we shuffled and jumbled the
laws and constants, we would eventually
land on a universe that was able to
create life. Can science really conclude
that there is a vast assortment of other
universes beyond the reach of our
telescopes?
Perhaps we should invoke a deeper reason
for the universe. The amazing balance of
structure and simplicity in the laws of
our universe creates the foundations for
a world inhabited by creatures. Creatures
who can live, learn, labor, and love.
Were the laws of nature chosen to make a
universe in which moral actions can be meaningful?
Or is the universe a computer
simulation? Are we perhaps the unintended
by-product of a computer code running in
some meta-universe? Could we uncover
pixelation in the daily operations of
nature? Could we see glitches in the program?
This fine-tuning of the universe for
life is a major unsolved problem in the
world of physics. It is crying out for an
explanation, and leads us to question
many of our deepest ideas about how the
cosmos works.
We may never look at our universe in the
same way again
