Could the Universe Be Shaped Like a Doughnut?

• Main Author: daniel
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2024
• Subjects: North Pole
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11658309

The cosmos might share an unexpected characteristic with a doughnut: its shape, or more precisely, its topology. In a universe with a complex, doughnut-like topology, you could theoretically travel across the cosmos and end up back where you started. This possibility hasn't been ruled out yet, according to physicists in the April 26 issue of Physical Review Letters . In a universe with trivial topology, any closed path you draw can be shrunk down to a point. For example, if you travel around Earth's equator, that loop can be squished by shifting your trip to the North Pole. However, a doughnut has a complex, or nontrivial, topology. A loop around the doughnut’s hole, for instance, cannot be shrunk down because the hole restricts how far you can compress it. While the universe is generally believed to have a trivial topology, this is not certain, the researchers argue. “I find it fascinating … the possibility that the universe might have nontrivial or different types of topologies, and then especially the fact that we think we might be able to measure it,” says cosmologist Dragan Huterer of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who was not involved with the study. A universe with nontrivial topology might resemble the Pac-Man game. In Pac-Man, moving all the way to the right edge of the screen brings the character back to the left side. A journey that crosses the screen and returns the character to its starting point can’t be shrunk down, similar to the complex topology of a doughnut. https://www.deviantart.com/brianulkert/journal/Shadow-Fight-2-iOS-hack-2024-free-gold-and-gems-1032775459 https://www.deviantart.com/thomasdekle/journal/Episode-iOS-hack-2024-unlimited-gems-free-1032806465 https://www.deviantart.com/freddyabd/journal/Injustice-2-iOS-hack-2024-unlimited-gems-1032812635 https://www.deviantart.com/vickesslen/journal/Survivor-io-iOS-hack-2024-unlimited-gems-1032824131 https://www.deviantart.com/garryannerto/journal/Choices-iOS-hack-2024-unlimited-diamonds-1032832185 ...