Is our universe a hologram? Scientists find out with the holographic principle. (Photo : TU Wien)
A new mathematical model developed by scientists suggests that the universe may be a hologram which means that the world we are living in could just exist in two spatial dimensions instead of three dimensions.
In 1997, the first holographic principle suggesting that our universe could just contain two dimensions in space had intrigued theoretical physicists. Our perception of the third dimensions could just be two dimensional events meeting on the "horizon" of a two dimensional image which creates an illusion of depth.
This remarkable idea is now investigated mathematically where in some cases, the universe could apparently possess a negative curvature shaped like a horse saddle. The new findings present calculations about a two dimensional universe that projects a hologram of three dimensions where it could occur if spacetime is flat.
According to Daniel Grumiller from the Vienna University of Technology, if quantum gravity inside a flat space can allow a holographic result using a standard quantum theory, this could yield physical properties that can be calculated in both theories where the results could also be applied with both theories.
However, pairs of entangled quantum particles cannot be deciphered in mathematical terms as separate objects even if there's a siginificant distance between them.
The degree of entanglement in any quantum system can be measured using the entropy of entanglement and this was found to be identical when it comes to gravity and quantum mechanics of a universe with just two dimensions.
Since these quantum effects can now be calculated into two dimensions, these can now be mapped into gravitational models of three dimensions.
Grumiller says that this calculation confirms that the holographic princicple can be applied to flat spaces which is evidence to validate the correspondence in the universe. Quantum information and entropy entanglement in a theory of gravity seems impossible just a few years back.
This new finding is pivotal in the field of theoretical physics and does not provide any evidence that our world and the universe are all holograms, as this study provides more evidence to the holographic principle theory.
This study is published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
