We May Soon Find Out if We're Living in the Matrix

[TriflinThomas]

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/429561/the-measurement-that-would-reveal-the-universe-as/

" First, some background. The problem with all simulations is that the laws of physics, which appear continuous, have to be superimposed onto a discrete three dimensional lattice which advances in steps of time.

The question that Beane and co ask is whether the lattice spacing imposes any kind of limitation on the physical processes we see in the universe. They examine, in particular, high energy processes, which probe smaller regions of space as they get more energetic

What they find is interesting. They say that the lattice spacing imposes a fundamental limit on the energy that particles can have. That's because nothing can exist that is smaller than the lattice itself.

So if our cosmos is merely a simulation, there ought to be a cut off in the spectrum of high energy particles.

It turns out there is exactly this kind of cut off in the energy of cosmic ray particles, a limit known as the Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin or GZK cut off.

This cut-off has been well studied and comes about because high energy particles interact with the cosmic microwave background and so lose energy as they travel long distances.

But Beane and co calculate that the lattice spacing imposes some additional features on the spectrum. "The most striking feature...is that the angular distribution of the highest energy components would exhibit cubic symmetry in the rest frame of the lattice, deviating significantly from isotropy," they say.

In other words, the cosmic rays would travel preferentially along the axes of the lattice, so we wouldn't see them equally in all directions."

 

[EyeSeeCold]

It doesn't seem like the article or the study was intended for laymen, I don't understand how it relates to being able to calculate whether this is a simulated world.

 

[Architect]

Fascinating, thanks for the link

It doesn't seem like the article or the study was intended for laymen, I don't understand how it relates to being able to calculate whether this is a simulated world.

The idea of world as simulation has been kicking around for some time. Nick Bostrom, a philosopher recently posed the question formally in 2003

Are you Living In a Computer Simulation?

Hans Moravec Simulated Reality posed it before him. Descartes was the first AFAIK

The philosophical underpinnings of this argument are also brought up by Descartes, who was one of the first Western philosophers to do so. In Meditations on First Philosophy, he states "... there are no certain indications by which we may clearly distinguish wakefulness from sleep", and goes on to conclude that "It is possible that I am dreaming right now and that all of my perceptions are false".

What is interesting to me is less the question of whether or not it is true, but why we humans find the idea so acceptable. I think the answer can be found in the book Natural Born Cyborgs, where Andy Clark makes the point that the distinguishing feature of humans is that we take so naturally to artificial reality and becoming a cyborg, a process well underway (i.e., we are already cyborgs). The book is worth reading.

So why would physics tell us that that we're in a simulation? One argument I've heard is the 'Quantum Foam' or what happens around the Planck Length. Interestingly it turns out that there is a smallest dimension to the universe that you can not subdivide (10^-42 I think) This might indicate a discreteness to reality, and is what you would expect if we were a simulation on a digital computer.

Now as to how these guys will show it. Interestingly it reminds me of the negative experiments to try and discover the Ether. In this case the Ether is a supposed digital Lattice (a cosmic RAM cell you might imagine) that the universe is being simulated on, and the direction the earth travels through the Ether is equivalent to the orientation of the lattice. So if they find a non isotropy in the energy spectra of high energy gamma rays, that means the 'fabric' (if you will) of the universe has an orientation, which then brings up the question "what is this fabric?" One conclusion is that it is the 'bits' of us as a simulation.

QCD (Quantum Chromo Dynamics) is our best measured theory across all of science, it should be possible to reliably prove this. And there are some caveats ...

One problem is that the computer lattice may be constructed in an entirely different way to the one envisaged by these guys.

Another is that this effect is only measurable if the lattice cut off is the same as the GZK cut off. This occurs when the lattice spacing is about 10^-12 femtometers. If the spacing is significantly smaller than that, we'll see nothing.

I might add that computation comes in many forms. It looks like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-Wave_Systems Quantum Computing is truly taking off, and I'm not sure it would make equal sense to consider qbits as being in a lattice structure.

 

[ideae]

This is solipsism all over again. Move along.

 

[TriflinThomas]

This is solipsism all over again. Move along.

You need to back up your claim. Otherwise, it's just noise.

 

[Reluctantly]

Maybe, but it could also just mean our methods of measuring are limited in such a way that it appears reality is discrete.
Although honestly, that article seems so abstract that it feels like they are trolling the layman, similar to how people like to talk about the Higgs Boson as finding the last layer of physics - the "God Particle", when all it represents is the smaller parts of an atom when it is broken apart, parts that could be very different from one another. And that's not to say those smaller pieces then don't also have parts. And when one realizes this, it's almost common sense passed off as a genius theory that becomes slightly irritating to anyone looking for clarity and not sensationalism.

But let's say it is right; then even a simulation is real because we are aware of ourselves. I'd say that's more interesting then, given that we would have the potential to find evidence of another reality through the simulation that we can directly influence.
Then we would still be a part of direct reality through the simulation. And it is no longer a Matrix because it is still very real, because it still acts according to physics in whatever is to be the supporting structure of reality.
Even a computer program simulation, given the right abilities, could manipulate the laws of physics inherent to the computer and manifest itself in another reality. But the interactions were still there to begin with.

Thus, even if this were found to be true, it does not prove that it should be absolutely true, as circumstances have the theoretical potential to change. I'm then not even sure one could truly prove anything in terms of truth, but maybe only in terms of pure logic, where there are constant fundamentals/relationships.

 

[NinjaSurfer]

I think a simulation this advanced would have come equipped with an anti-virus preventing the discovery that is being attempted.

It seems as simple as putting red cellophane on my ant farm to trick the ants that it is night time

(this was a long time ago, I don't have an ant farm anymore)

 

[Architect]

Maybe, but it could also just mean our methods of measuring are limited in such a way that it appears reality is discrete.

The fundamental discreteness of reality is first a theoretical result, not measurement.

Thus, even if this were found to be true, it does not prove that it should be absolutely true, as circumstances have the theoretical potential to change.

No as I indicated the discrete nature of reality is predicated by theory. Experiment can find if there is a pattern that is not predicted by theory, because theory doesn't account for the idea that it's a simulation.

I think a simulation this advanced would have come equipped with an anti-virus preventing the discovery that is being attempted.

Possibly, but what would that be? It may not be possible to hide the truth, given the physics laws this world was 'endowed with'. Or, maybe whoever (if anybody) is running the simulation intended it to be discovered by evolved intelligence.

 

[7even]

I think I can physically see the 4th dimension (Time) organizing and giving some order to the chaotic 3D matrix.
I see billions of identical tiny dots everywhere, perhaps quarks; all put together to give an image - held by the 4 fundamental forces.

My eyesight is terrible, I'm more or less blind, but the less I see, the less I am deceived.
MUHAHAH.

EDIT: Oh, shit, totally irrelevant.