III. Ecosmos: A Revolutionary Fertile, Habitable, Solar-Bioplanet, Incubator Lifescape

5. ExoUniverse Studies: Detectable Presence, Conceptual Features

Masaki, Shogo, et al. Anisotropic Separate Universe Simulations. arXiv:2003.10052. Suzuka College, Kyoto University and University of Toyko physicists open the paper by noting that worldwide scientific collaborations now make it possible to theoretically consider entire cosmoses with regard to variable parameters and properties. In a philoSophia view, how fantastic is it that we phenomenal human beings are altogether capable of considering and quantifying a whole universe.

The long-wavelength coherent overdensity and tidal force affect time evolution of cosmic structure formation and therefore clustering observables through the mode coupling. In this paper we develop an "anisotropic" separate universe (SU) simulation technique to simulate large-scale structure formation. We modify the TreePM N-body simulation code to implement the anisotropic SU simulations, and then study the "response" function of matter power spectrum that describes how the matter power spectrum responds to the large-scale tidal effect as a function of wavenumber and redshift for a given global cosmology. We test and validate the SU simulation results from the comparison with the perturbation theory predictions and the results from high-resolution PM simulation. We find that the response function displays characteristic scale dependences over the range of scales down to nonlinear scales, up to k ~ 6 h/Mpc. (Abstract)

Ord, Toby. The Edges of Our Universe. arXiv:2104.01191. We cite this entry by an Oxford University, Future of Humanity Institute research philosopher as an example of collaborative human abilities which can lately quantify and describe even this entire trillion galaxy, solar system expanse. It is current work as this across the parsecs which can be seen to give microcosmic Earthlings a central, participatory relevance. That is to say phenomenal people in community seem to have a vital, ingrained function of importance to the whole panorama.

This paper explores the fundamental causal limits on how much of the universe we can observe or affect. It distinguishes four principal regions: the affectable universe, the observable universe, the eventually observable universe, and the ultimately observable universe. It then shows how these (and other) causal limits set physical bounds on what spacefaring civilisations could achieve over the longterm future. (Abstract)

Philcox, Oliver and Salvatore Torquato. The Disordered Heterogeneous Universe: Galaxy Distribution across Length Scales. arXiv.2007.00519. As this section gains credible evidence, we cite this dense entry by Princeton University astrophysicists as another instance of Earthuman abilities which are so wide and deep that they can expand to exocosmos frontiers. See also Reconstructing the Universe with Variational Self-Boosted Sampling at 2206.154343 by Flatiron Institute and Columbia University computational experts and Special Theory of Regularity by Juliano Neves at 2204.08413 about lawful parameters. Once again, this 21st century global acumen seems to imply an awesome dimension and destiny to our microscopic presence.

Studies of disordered heterogeneous media and galaxy cosmology share a common goal: analyzing the distribution of particles at `microscales' to predict physical properties at `macroscales', whether for a liquid, composite material, or entire Universe. The former theory provides an array of techniques to characterize a wide class of microstructures; in this work, we apply them to the distributions of galaxies. We focus on the lower-order correlation functions, `void' and `particle' nearest-neighbor functions, pair-connectedness functions, percolation properties, and a scalar order metric. On large scales, the system appears `hyperuniform', due to primordial density fluctuations, whilst on the smallest scales, the system becomes almost `antihyperuniform', and, via the order metric, is shown to be a highly correlated disordered system. (Excerpt)

Rahvar, Sohrab. Cosmic Initial Conditions for a Habitable Universe. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 470/3, 2017. In concert with our present cognitive sapiensphere, a Sharif University, Tehran, astrophysicist can consider and quantify entire cosmoses by way of chaotic inflationary theories, open and closed universes, Baryon asymmetry, and more as to whether they might be conducive or hostile to living systems.

Within the framework of an eternal inflationary scenario, a natural question regarding the production of eternal bubbles is the essential conditions required to have a universe capable of generating life. In either an open or a closed universe, we find an anthropic lower bound on the amount of e-folding in the order of 60 for the inflationary epoch, which results in the formation of large-scale structures in both linear and non-linear regimes. We extend the question of the initial condition of the universe to the sufficient condition in which we have enough initial dark matter and baryonic matter asymmetry in the early universe for the formation of galactic halos, stars, planets and consequently life. We show that the probability of a habitable universe is proportional to the asymmetry of dark and baryonic matter, while the cosmic budget of baryonic matter is limited by astrophysical constraints. (Abstract)

Concluding this work, the overall probability of a universe being habitable is a produce of the prior and selection probabilities, where the prior probability function is almost unity from inflation and the selection part is proportional to ηB. In another words, the probability of a universe being habitable is proportional to the baryonic asymmetry of the universe. (3102)

Robles-Perez, Salvador. Observational Consequences of an Interacting Multiverse. Universe. Online May 25, 2017. The Instituto de Física Fundamental, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid and Estación Ecológica de Biocosmología, Medellin, theorist scopes out ways that Earthside science might be able to engage and quantify the presence of neighboring cosmoses. See also Inter-Universal Entanglement in a Cyclic Multiverse by the author and three others at arXiv:1701.04773. And it boggles that human beings are capable of such celestial reaches, surely we infinitesimal wonderers must have some grand significance to the purpose, fate, and future of this whole universe.

The observability of the multiverse is at the very root of its physical significance as a scientific proposal. In this conference we present, within the third quantization formalism, an interacting scheme between the wave functions of different universes and analyze the effects of some particular values of the coupling function. One of the main consequences of the interaction between universes can be the appearance of a pre-inflationary stage in the evolution of the universes that might leave observable consequences in the properties of the CMB. (Abstract)

We have shown that the interaction among universes of the multiverse may modify the global properties of the single universes without changing their notion of causal closure. The effect of these interactions is expected to be significant in the very early stages of the evolution of the universe where quantum corrections may be dominant. In that case, the interactions among the universe may create a landscape structure of different solutions among which the state of the universes can undergo different quantum transitions. For instance, it might well be that the universe would start in a quantum state of a high value of the mode, for which the absolute value of the potential is high enough to trigger inflation, and then it may suffer several process of vacuum decays until it would finally reach a state with a small value of the vacuum energy. (8)

Robles-Perez, Salvador, et al. Inter-Universal Entanglement in a Cyclic Multiverse. arXiv:1701.04773. We lead with this entry to record a flurry of postings whence entire cosmoses in every parallel, interactive, serial, spatially imaginable mode are being quantifiably considered by collaborative Earthlings. For example, see also Causal Structures in Cosmology by George Ellis and Jean-Philippe Uzan (1612.01084), Three Aspects of Typicality in Multiverse Cosmology by Feraz Azhar (1609.02586), A Discrete, Finite Multiverse by Alan Mckenzie (1609.04050), Is the Quilted Multiverse Consistent with a Thermodynamic Arrow of Time by Yakir Aharonov, et al (1608.08798), and Cyclic Multiverses by Konrad Marosek, et al (1509.04074).

Theoretical achievements, as well as much controversy, surround multiverse theory. Various types of multiverses, with an increasing amount of complexity, were suggested and thoroughly discussed by now. While these types are very different, they all share the same basic idea - our physical reality consists of more than just one universe. Each universe within a possibly huge multiverse might be slightly or even very different from the others. The quilted multiverse is one of these types, whose uniqueness arises from the postulate that every possible event will occur infinitely many times in infinitely many universes. In this paper we show that the quilted multiverse is not self-consistent due to the instability of entropy decrease under small perturbations. We therefore propose a modified version of the quilted multiverse which might overcome this shortcoming. It includes only those universes where the minimal entropy occurs at the same instant of (cosmological) time. Only these universes whose initial conditions are fine-tuned within a small phase-space region would evolve consistently to form their close states at present. (Abstract, Aharonov)

Rubenstein, Mary-Jane. Worlds Without End: The Many Lives of the Multiverse. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014. The Wesleyan University philosopher of religion follows up her 2010 Strange Wonder: The Closure of Metaphysics and the Opening of Awe with a survey of historic and modern imaginations of starry and metacosmic infinities. From Greece to Aquinas, Kant, and others onto this Quantum Multiverse, men have mused over divinities, creation, diversity, excess, novelty, and nothingness as our environs expanded to countless cosmoses. The infinite vista invites theories and amazements over myriad parallel, inflationary possibilities. Max Tegmark, Brian Greene, Laura Mersini-Houghton, Andrei Linde, and more postulate, which then leads to religious and philosophical issues of numinous purpose or contingent caprice.

Sandora, McCullen. Multiverse Predictions for Habitability: Fraction of Life that Develops Intelligence. arXiv:1904.11796. The fourth installment by the Tufts University cosmologist of his studies (search) of an apparent multicosmos milieu. The first three entries dealt with the number and properties of stars, how many habitable planets may be there, and the fraction of planets that develop life. In this edition, the relative presence of candidate suns, earths, and (micro) organisms informs what conditions are necessary for intelligent beings to evolve and emerge. His approach, as the Abstract notes, is to evaluate the many cometary, radiative and geologic cataclysms which could wipe out any sentient phase. The second long quote is a good synopsis, might we add a “Cosmotropic” significance? To reflect on it all, how curious to reach such a scenario, some 400 years after Galileo, whence a most favored universe seems to bring forth its own self-retrospective witness. What human identity and purpose might ever be realized?

Do mass extinctions affect the development of intelligence? If so, we may expect to be in a universe that is exceptionally placid. We consider the effects of impacts, supervolcanoes, global glaciations, and nearby gamma ray bursts, and how their rates depend on fundamental constants. It is interesting that despite the very disparate nature of these processes, each occurs on timescales of 100 Myr-Gyr. We argue that this is due to a selection effect that favors both tranquil locales within our universe, as well as tranquil universes. Taking gamma ray bursts to be the sole driver of mass extinctions is disfavored in multiverse scenarios, as the rate is much lower for different values of the fundamental constants. In contrast, geological causes of extinction are very compatible with the multiverse. Various frameworks for the effects of extinctions are investigated, and the intermediate disturbance hypothesis is found to be most compatible with the multiverse. (Abstract)

To recapitulate our results: the number of habitable stars in the universe is the backbone of this computation, and this factor exerts a pressure to live in universes with stronger gravity. The fraction of stars that have planets, on the other hand, was relatively insensitive to the laws of physics. The most important factor was found to be the fraction of planets that develop life. This was sensitive to the assumptions made, and led to many predictions for the distribution of life throughout our universe. The fraction of planets that develop intelligence can be similarly constraining. The follow-up we performed about the deleterious effects of mass extinctions, does not play as large a role, but can still be nontrivial. There is one final factor which we have not discussed, which is the average number of observers per civilization. However, we refrain from incorporating into our present analysis, because it is hard to say much about this factor without veering into speculation. The viewpoint here is “it takes a village to raise a question,” that is, the consciousness you enjoy is not wholly your own, but is in part inherited from the whole history of society. By shifting the selection pressure onto the civilization rather than the individual, sidesteps this complication completely. (30-31, edits)

Sandora, McCullen. Multiverse Predictions for Habitability: Fraction of Planets that Develop Life. arXiv:1903.06283. In his multiverse studies (1901.04614, 1902.06784), the Tufts University cosmologist moves on to consider numerical estimates, in view of how stochastic suns and worlds can be, for how many potential biospheres might harbor living, evolving systems. Of especial interest are those that could continue to rise beyond microbial phases. As the abstract says, many inter-related spatial, material, gaseous and energetic factors are involved and need be evaluated. And as herein An Earthropic Principle section reports, further concatenations need be passed through to reach a cumulative, technological sapiensphere able to commence such explorations.

In a multiverse context, determining the probability of being in our particular universe depends on estimating its overall habitability compared to other universes with different values of the fundamental constants. One of the most important factors in determining this is the fraction of planets that actually develop life, and how this depends on planetary conditions. Many proposed possibilities for this are incompatible with the multiverse: if the emergence of life depends on the lifetime of its host star, the size of the habitable planet, or the amount of material processed, the chances of being in our universe would be very low. If the emergence of life depends on the entropy absorbed by the planet, however, our position in this universe is very natural. Several proposed models for the subsequent development of life, including the hard step model and several planetary oxygenation models, are also shown to be incompatible with the multiverse. If any of these are observed to play a large role in determining the distribution of life throughout our universe, the multiverse hypothesis will be ruled out to high significance. (Abstract)

Sandora, McCullen. Multiverse Predictions for Habitability: Number of Habitable Planets. arXiv:1902.06784. The Tufts University postdoc cosmologist continues his quantifications after Number of Stars (1901.04614) as our collective human acumen becomes cognizant of infinite vicarious cosmoses. This study is based on recent perceptions of some quintillion planetary objects of every possible kind, in and out of solar systems, whereupon life and sentience may or may not evolve. Sections include Why does our universe naturally make terrestrial planets, Fraction of stars with planets, What sets the size of planets, What is the metallicity needed to form planets, Why is interplanet spacing equal to the width of the temperate zone, and so on.

How good is our universe at making habitable planets? The answer to this depends on which factors are important for life: Does a planet need to be Earth mass? Does it need to be inside the temperate zone? Are systems with hot Jupiters habitable? Adopting different stances on the importance of each of these criteria, as well as the underlying physical processes involved, can affect the probability of being in our universe; this can help to determine whether the multiverse framework is correct or not. (Abstract)

Sandora, McCullen. Multiverse Predictions for Habitability: The Number of Stars and their Properties. arXiv:1901.04614. A Tufts University postdoctoral cosmologist (search) provides an extensive review of an implied spatial and temporal presence of multitudinous, contingent universes, along with conjectural properties. It opens with a reevaluation of 1960s (Frank) Drake equation factors of stars in a cosmos, planetary systems, how many likely habitable, can life then evolve, reach intelligence, and finally an anthropic civilization as our own. A half century later, a major change is that exoworlds of all kinds are the common case. Sandora cites solar photosynthesis as another vital feature, along with stellar varieties such as red dwarfs, tidal locking on a planet without a moon, and more. Future entries (1902.06784, 1903.06283) consider probable habitable worlds, evolutionary courses, and a global acumen able to perform a cosmic function of self-description, illumination, and sustainability.

In a multiverse setting, we expect to be situated in a universe that is exceptionally good at producing life. Though the conditions for what life needs to arise and thrive are currently unknown, many will be tested in the coming decades. Here we investigate several different habitability criteria, and their influence on multiverse expectations: Does complex life need photosynthesis? Is there a minimum timescale necessary for development? Can life arise on tidally locked planets? Are convective stars habitable? Variously adopting different stances on each of these criteria can alter whether our observed values of the fine structure constant, the electron to proton mass ratio, and the strength of gravity are typical to high significance. This serves as a way of generating predictions for the requirements of life that can be tested with future observations, elevating the multiverse scenario to a predictive scientific framework. (Abstract)

Until this point, we have considered the number of observers throughout universes with different microphysical constants and, weighing against the expected relative frequencies of
such universes in a generic multiverse context, have determined the probability of measuring the three values of our constants as they are. Our findings show that these probabilities depend sensitively on the precise requirements for habitability that are assumed, as we have demonstrated by separately considering the expectations that complex life is proportional to the number of stars, that it is dependent on photosynthesis, the absence of tidal locking, that it can only arise around tame stars, that it requires a certain length of time to develop, and that its presence is proportional to the total amount of entropy processed by the system. (22-23)

Sandora, McCullen, et al. Multiverse Predictions for Habitability: Planetary Characteristics.. arXiv:2302.12376. With this entry we cite four new papers which are a collegial update to Dr. Sandora’s prior 2019 postings across a multiversal scenario (search). In regard, three more senior cosmologists, Vladimir Airapetian, NASA Goddard, Luke Barnes, Western Sydney University, and Geraint Lewis, University of Sydney, expand, embellish and advance these awesome contributions. Along with the above topic, they are Element Abundances (2302.10919), Stellar and Atmospheric Habitability (2303.03119), and Origin of Life Scenarios (2303.02678). We next post Abstract excerpts for a flavorable sense of their content.

In more regard, from any planatural philosophy vista, we ought to register how fantastic it is that our infinitesimal Earthuman collective beingness can yet be able to evolve, emerge, explore, quantify and evaluate such infinite celestial reaches. Who really are we, what precestral, innate function and role are we intended to serve in and of a participatory ecosmic genesis. One could go on, a grand, salutary realization seems to awaits for our pediaverse asking and seeing.

Recent detections of potentially habitable exoplanets around sunlike stars invite further exploration of the physical conditions that can sustain life. Insight into these conditions, we contend, can be aided by the multiverse hypothesis whereof the probability of living in our universe depends on assumptions that affect relative habitability. Here, we show that a multiverse scenario does induce strong preferences among them. For example, we consider proposed mechanisms for water delivery to the early Earth both during giant planet formation and a grand tack, from comets, and oxidation of a primary atmosphere by a magma ocean. (Planetary Characteristics)

If the origin of life is rare and sensitive to the local conditions at the site of its emergence using the principle of mediocrity within a multiverse framework, we may expect to find ourselves in a universe that is better than usual at creating these necessary conditions. We use this reasoning to investigate several origins of life including the prebiotic soup, hydrothermal vents, prebiotic material from impacts, and panspermia. We find that most induce a preference toward weaker-gravity universes, and solar radiation or large impacts as a disequilibrium source are disfavored. (Origin of Life)

Stellar activity and planetary atmospheres can strongly influence habitability. To date, neither have been adequately studied in the multiverse context, so there has not been as assessment of how these effects impact our fundamental constants. Here, we consider the effects of solar wind, mass loss, and extreme ultra-violet flux on atmospheres and how they scale with physical parameters. We consider whether planetary magnetic fields are necessary for habitability, and find five boundaries in parameter space where magnetic fields are precluded. (Stellar and Atmospheric Habitability)

We investigate the dependence of elemental abundances on physical constants, and the implications this has for the distribution of complex life for various habitability criteria. We consider three main sources of variation: differing supernova rates, alpha burning in massive stars, and isotopic stability, and their effect on metal-to-rock ratio and the abundances of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, silicon, magnesium, and iron. Our results indicate that carbon-rich or carbon-poor planets are uninhabitable, slightly magnesium-rich planets are habitable, and life does not depend on nitrogen levels too sensitively. If any of these predictions are found to be wrong, the multiverse scenario would predict that the majority of observers are born in universes substantially different from ours, and so can be ruled out, to varying degrees of statistical significance. (Element Abundances)

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