Category:Cosmology

Introduction
Cosmology deals with the structure of the Universe, the Inner Planes (including the Prime Material Plane of Urthe), the Outer Planes, the Transitive planes, the Dimensions, and the Weave.

Background
Theorists have long sought to unify all the principles of physics in one mathematical model. The main goal of those searching for this "theory of everything", or TOE, has been to unify the laws of the universe at both supercosmic and subatomic scales.

In the mid ‘60s, physicists were grappling with two of the thorniest problems in subatomic physics. One was breaking quantum gauge symmetry. The other problem devilling physicists was how the strong interaction held quarks together so tightly. As it turned out, these two questions had the same answer.

In 1967 Steven Weinberg shows that the electromagnetic and weak forces are the same. The next year, Gabriele Veneziano shows that the strong force depends on the resonance, or vibration, of the gluon boson which mediates the force. That concept, while it had problems mathematically, will cause a scientific upheaval.

A Cosmic Hum
Two years later, in 1970, Yochiro Nambu, Leonard Susskind and Holger Nielson, working independently, found that Veneziano’s resonance could be explained by the quantum mechanics of relativistic vibrating "strings" of energy. Each subatomic particle, from quarks to electrons, was the result of a specific vibration of a string. Strings apparently permeated the space-time continuum, perhaps even creating it.

The good news about string theory was it did combine quantum theory and relativity. The bad news was, it required a universe of 26 dimensions and predicted a particle with a mass having an imaginary number—a tachyon. Physicists were not ready to deal with that concept yet.

Superstrings and Supersymetry
Physicists continued to work at ridding strings of those 26 dimensions and that pesky negative energy tachyon. Based on the famous quantum uncertainty principle, a localized system tends to have a non-vanishing “zero energy point.” But in supersymmetry, where the bosons and fermions are linked, the zero point energies are of opposite sign, and thus cancel each other out. There is no tachyon!

String theory without a tachyon became known as superstring theory or even a theory of super gravity. And those 26 so-called "dimensions"? It turns out that the number in the equations actually represents 26 distinct Planes of Existence. With supersymmetry, by linking bosons and fermions, the number of true dimensions is reduced down to 10: a more manageable number to grasp.

But further work developed new concepts such as membranes, manifolds…and an 11th dimension. In the early 1990s, Edward Witten and others found strong evidence that the different superstring theories were different limits of a new 11-dimensional theory called M-Theory. These discoveries sparked the second superstring revolution that took place approximately between 1994 and 1997.

As physicists grappled with different string theories, they began to see connections between them. There were dualities between the strong and weak forces in separate theories that made them equivalent. It seemed they were all special cases of one main theory--a theory of Multiple Planes of Existence, or put quite simply, 'planes'.

Duality Clears the View
As physicists struggled to find a way to combine conflicting string theories into our four observable dimensions, they stumbled upon an amazing phenomenon. Perhaps there were not 10 dimensions to deal with—perhaps there were 11!

They came to this conclusion as they studied a mathematical phenomenon known as DUALITY. This is a phenomenon in which two theories act the same in different situations. There are three types of dualities, S, U, and T. We will start with T here because it created the major breakthrough.

T-duality applies specifically to closed strings such as described in the Type II theories and the herterotic theories. The energy of the closed strings is determined by the number of times they are wound in a circle. If the circle is compactified, the two Type II theories become one, and the two herterotic theories become one. That reduces the number of string theories from five to three!

S-duality deals with the relationship between the magnetic charge and the electric charge in the quantum world. In the ‘real world’ they are inversely proportional. In other words, if the electric charge is high, the magnetic charge is low, and vice versa, and the coupling between the two forces is very weak. In the world of strings, at high energies, the coupling between the two forces becomes extremely strong, thus creating the electromagnetic force. The Type I theory weak coupling is equivalent to the strong coupling of one of the herterotic theories, thus relating them. It was now obvious that each of the string theories were but special cases of one all encompassing theory.

But this coupling was true only if there were an 11th dimension that had not previously been discovered.

A Universe Formed of Planes
Originally, the open strings of the Type I theory were considered to be “free floating,” with their end points moving freely. But the concept of an 11th dimension called that into question. For open strings to fit into this embryonic “Theory of Everything,” one end had to be attached to something so that the attached end became a point.

M theory, as it has come to be called, postulates that our universe is a plane within a larger volume of other planes, perhaps other universes. The basics of the theory explain a great deal about black holes. For example, the creation of certain types of black holes can be described by a five dimensional plane—a 5-plane—and open strings travelling down a 1-plane with all of them wrapped on a five dimensional torus. This effectively creates a one dimensional object—a black hole.

Researchers at the University of California, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Texas develop an experiment with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN to test the major predictions of the theory. The positive results proved Arthur C. Clarke’s famous dictum: “The universe may not only be stranger than we imagine, it may be stranger than we CAN imagine.”

And yet, in many ways, it had been imagined, long ago...

The Large Hadron Collider
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was built over a ten year period from 1998 to 2008. The LHC lies in a tunnel 27 kilometres (17 mi) in circumference, as deep as 175 metres (574 ft) beneath the earth. It was built in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries, as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories. The LHC is not merely large: it is the biggest machine ever built. It is not merely cold: it is the coldest extended region that we know of in the universe—colder than outer space. The vacuum inside the proton-containing tubes, a 10 trillionth of an atmosphere, is the most complete vacuum over the largest region ever produced. The energy of the collisions are the highest ever generated on Urthe, allowing us to study the interactions that occurred in the early universe the furthest back in time. Each LHC dipole (the magnets responsible for keeping the protons running in their tracks) contains coils of niobium-titanium superconducting cables, each of which contains stranded filaments a mere six microns thick – much smaller than a human hair. If you unwrapped all of these filaments, they would be long enough to encircle the orbit of Mars. And the last superlative that I’ll mention: the LHC’s $9 billion price tag also makes it the most expensive machine ever built.

On 10 September 2008, proton beams were successfully circulated in the main ring of the LHC for the first time, but 9 days later operations were halted due to a helium gas explosion. On 20 November 2009 they were successfully circulated again. On 30 March 2010, the first collisions took place between two 3.5 TeV beams, setting the current world record for the highest-energy man-made particle collisions, and the LHC began its planned research program. The LHC continues to operate at 3.5 TeV per beam, half of its planned capability, until the end of 2012. It is shut down for a year for upgrades to allow full energy operation (7 TeV per beam), reopening in 2014.

LHC Phase II
On February 20 2014, the LHC operated at its full capacity: 7 TeV per beam. The resultant collisions confirms the existence of the extra dimensions of the universe, and eventually allows each dimension to be clearly identified. On either side of our four commonly known horizontal, vertical, lateral, and temporal dimensions lay the other seven dimensions (four 'inner', 3 'outer'), and all this time they were hiding in plain sight.

The first of the inner dimensions to be discovered was dubbed 'Primal'. Strings vibrating in the primal dimension connect our own plane of existence, dubbed the Prime Material/Energy Plane, to a subatomic Ethereal Plane.

In 2016, further Ethereal Plane experiments next yielded the discovery of the 'Vital' dimension. Strings with this resonance connect the Ethereal Plane to a pair of supersymetrical Positive and Negative Material/Energy Planes. Like the Taoist notion of yin and yang, these planes are indeed a balance of the universe's primordial creative and destructive forces.

Soon after, in 2017, the last two inner dimensions, the thermal and the compressional, reveal themselves. Uniquely resonating strings, vibrating in concert along these dimensional lines connect the Ethereal Plane to four Elemental Planes, each literally corresponding to the classical elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.

These experiments at the Large Hadron Collider spark fears among the public that the particle collisions might produce doomsday phenomena. Two CERN-commissioned safety reviews examined these concerns and concluded that the experiments at the LHC present no danger and that there is no reason for concern.

With eight dimensions and eight planes of existence experimentally confirmed, scientists knew they were on the right track; but, after many years of running, the experiment begins to suffer. Naturally as the key results reachable by the device begin to be completed, scientists realize the other 'outer' dimensions must exist on the 'far end of the spectrum', and their discovery will depend upon an upgrade of the devices involved.

A luminosity upgrade of the LHC, the collaborative research effort of LHC Accelerator Research Program, LARP, is begun in 2018 after ten years of revolutionary discovery. But for the next 30 years, after a multibillion dollar cycle of upgrades and experiments, the 'outer' dimensions remain hidden. Some scientists begun to suspect that no particle collision would be powerful enough to confirm their existence, but others held onto the belief that the discovery lay just around the corner. Finally, in 2048, at a capacity of 546 TeV per beam, the final three dimensions were experimentally confirmed.

Rather than being curled subatomically, these dimensions, dubbed the 'spiritual' dimensions, are supercosmic in their scale. It was not the dimensions that were to small for us to see, but rather it was a case of our being too small to see the cosmic scale of the dimensions. And yet, they were apparent to us all along: the dimensions are philosophical, moral, and mental. Physicists now hoped that, via these three spiritual dimensions, they would soon discover the remaining 19 planes of existence, as predicted by M-theory.

The LARP Singularity
In 2062, LARP runs the LHC at an unprecedented operational energy level of 1 PeV per beam. The resultant particle collision creats an unexpected phenomenon: a mirror-like two-dimensional pool of rippling, silver-hued radiance, spanning across the 12 foot interior diameter of the LHC's underground concrete tunnel, but only visible from one side. The effect doesn't register on any of the detection instruments, and yet is plainly visible to see, persisting for a full minute after the initial particle collision. Scientists call the phenomenon a "color pool".

Probes are sent into subsequent color pools, which record data and images of an alternate plane of existence, just as predicted in earlier string theories. This extra-dimensional space appears to be untouched by the effects of gravity and time. Images show an endless expanse filled with an even, silvery light, like a night sky made of nothing but starlight, and thus scientists name it the Astral Plane.

Once again, these experiments at the Large Hadron Collider spark fears among the public that the color pools might produce doomsday phenomena. Since LARP is unable to send transmissions through the color pool, a human exploration of the Astral Plane is deemed too risky, and the project is discontinued until further notice.

[Unknown to LHC scientists, three unauthorized individuals entered one of these color pools: a 23 year old West Point graduate, a 23 year old professional mixed martial artist, and a 17 year old genius. Their whereabouts remain unknown.]