EggplantTrent

"Matter can neither be created nor destroyed."

Does this statement apply to outside of our universe, or prior to this universe's existence?

ex-xian

Here's my two cents.

The laws of physics that we observe are describing only this local universe. So any other universes or meta-universes could have, literally, any set of laws. But since our universe is a closed system, we have almost no way of observing other universes. That said, we still may be able to detect the existence of other universes; Scientific American published this article awhile back about the search for other universes. I thought that some of it (the "type 1" parallel universe especially) to be bunk, it was a pretty instresting article.

So, if there are other universes, then there is no guarantee that they would operate with the same laws of physics that ours does.

BUT, to many you question is meaningless. You speak of things "outside" and "before" this universe. Most people here, I think, believe that the universe is a closed system, sufficient unto itself. That is, it is meaningless and incoherent to speak space outside space and time before time.

Corwin

It doesn't even actually apply to this universe, since we know that virtual particles convert to real ones and back, hence 'creating' and 'destroying' matter and energy.

(Yes, I know that like much of QM this is largely a matter of semantics.... but...)

ex-xian

I thought that the matter that is created from nothing is just borrowed from the energy of the universe. Then the particles annhilate one another so that energy conservation isn't violated.

JGL53

And I think you are correct. Within our closed universe, I don't think the laws of physics allow for getting something from nothing. E.g., I don't think one can REALLY pull a rabbit from a hat.

Entropic_Gnosis

QM postulates some weird stuff about the nature of the universe. Somewhere, i cannot for the life of me remember where i saw it so alas i have no reference *cringes as the stones fly*, but seem to recall that a summmation of the matter/antimatter and all of the ghost particals and energy yeilds a result of zero. This seemes to indicate that the universe could be, in some strange semantic field, fundimentally nothing

That being said, i do agree that you cant pull a NEW rabbit out of a hat, but if there were some weird physics going on in that hat i suppose a rabbit from somewhere else could come out.

Corwin

As I understand it... *dodges the same stones* the particles essentially have to reconvert eventually.... so you CAN pull a rabbit out of a hat. You just have to put it back.