10 STRANGE THEORIES ABOUT THE UNIVERSE

1 Braneworld

An aspect of the universe we take for granted is that it’s three dimensional – there are three perpendicular directions you can move in. Some theories, however, suggest another spatial dimension – which we can’t perceive directly – in another perpendicular direction. This higher dimensional space is referred to as ‘the bulk’, while our universe is a three-dimensional membrane – or ‘brane’ – floating inside the bulk.

As complicated as it sounds, the braneworld picture solves several problems in physics. For example, a version proposed by Lisa Randall and Raman Sundrum explains an asymmetry in subatomic forces by suggesting the existence of other branes parallel to our own. But it’s not enough for a theory to explain facts we already know – it has to make new predictions that can be tested experimentally. In the case of the Randall-Sundrum model, such tests could involve measuring gravitational waves emitted by black holes linking our brane to another.

2 The Big Splat

In the far