From astrophysicist Brian Koberlein at Nautilus:
New Evidence for the Strange Idea that the Universe Is a Hologram
One of the great mysteries of modern cosmology is how our universe can be so thermally uniform—the vast cosmos is filled with the lingering heat of the Big Bang. Over time, it has cooled to a few degrees above absolute zero, but it can still be seen in the faint glow of microwave radiation, known as the cosmic microwave background. In any direction we look, the temperature of this cosmic background is basically the same, varying by only tiny amounts. But according to the standard “cold dark matter” model of cosmology, there wasn’t enough time for hotter and cooler regions of the early universe to even out. Even today we would expect parts of the cosmic background to be much warmer than others, but that isn’t what we observe.
So rapid early inflation, despite lack of direct evidence, is a “widely supported idea.”
What if everything around you, from the distant stars to your very hands, were a hologram? Like Plato’s cave, our world of solid objects and three-dimensional space would simply be a shadow of a two-dimensional reality. On the human scale a holographic universe would be indistinguishable from the reality we expect, but on a cosmic scale there could be subtle differences we might be able to detect.
Flatland.
In their paper, published last month in Physical Review Letters, the team report the holographic model fitting the Planck satellite data slightly better than the standard model. The results don’t prove the universe is holographic, but they are consistent with a holographic model.
But the results could be consistent with a variety of explanations, including unreplicated error. Why, exactly, should their explanation have precedence?
The idea comes from string theory: “Although string theory hasn’t been proven experimentally, its mathematical structure has an elegance and power that makes it appealing as a theoretical model. ”
To say that string theory has not been proven experimentally is to shower it with praise. It is simply a way of sneaking in a variety of non-evidence-based theses like the multiverse.
The fact that both the standard and holographic models can account for early inflation supports the idea that the holographic principle applies to our universe. Cosmic inflation remains a mystery, but by viewing the universe as a hologram we might just be able to solve it. More.
Why? How? There is no pressing reason whatever to consider the holographic model. Whatever Koberlein and others are trying to talk their way around, that causes them to think up this stuff, must be pretty powerful. In this case, it turns the unsupported theory into evidence.
See also: Universe refuses to discuss whether it is a hologram Larger question: Is the reason that a lot of this stuff is classed as “science” the fact that the researchers are playing around with the tools of science? Nothing the matter with that, but it would be good to make the situation clear.
“Substantial evidence” claimed for universe as a hologram: Researchers: “However, this time, the entire universe is encoded!” Encoded? Funny that.
Universe is not a hologram after all?
Oh, not this again… Is the universe a hologram?
We are living in a giant hologram, or a giant trailer filled with poop, or whatever Stephen Hawking says we are living in
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