与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman S02E02

Part 4 April 19, 2021, 2:34 p.m.

去发现宇宙的边界
to detect the edge of the Universe,
就算它潜伏在我们看不到的范围
even if it lurks beyond the area we can see.
你需要明白的是
What you have to understand
这些热区和冷区的实际图样
is what is this actual pattern of hot and cold spots
我们看着这球面
that we're seeing on the sphere.
它实际是什么，是声波
And what it really is is sound waves
它在宇宙非常年轻的时候穿越宇宙
that were traveling through the Universe when it was very young.
所以你可以想象，它像把鼓的顶部伸缩
So you can imagine it like stretching the top of a drum.
在它被伸缩的同时
At the same time that as it was stretching,
它实际上会令鼓震动一点
it was actually making the drum vibrate a little.
不同形状的宇宙就像不同形状的鼓
Different-shaped Universes, like different-shaped drums,
会在早期宇宙
should leave different patterns of vibrations
留下不同的震动模式
on the early Universe.
所以，我们需要做的是观察
So, what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at
一些不同形状和不同大小的鼓
some different-shaped and different-sized drums,
而我们现在用的是频谱分♥析♥仪
and what we have over here is a spectrum analyzer.
汤姆把一切都准备好了，所以我们弄点声音出来
And Tom has set things up so that when we make some sound,
我们会在屏幕上生成一些痕迹
we're going to get some traces on this computer screen.
那么，让我们从这些好看，圆圆的小鼓开始吧
So let's start with our nice, round, little drum.
试试心形的鼓
Now let's go with our heart-shaped drum.
肯定会听起来有点不一样
It certainly sounded a little bit different.
最后，我们试试星星形状的鼓
Finally, we have a star-shaped drum.
当我们叠加三种鼓的模式
When we superimpose the patterns of those three small drums,
我们看见他们有很大的不同了
we'll see that they're not quite exactly the same.
他们有不同的模式
They have different patterns
我们能看见在
and so we can tell the difference
这些小小的鼓之间，分别在那里
between one small drum and another.
用同样的方法，我们要做的是
In the same way, what we're planning to do
使用频谱分♥析♥仪
is use a spectrum analyzer
去观察宇宙发出的不同声音
to look at the different sounds that the Universe made
然后就知道宇宙的形状是什么了
and to tell what the shape of the Universe is.
格伦的分♥析♥牵涉太复杂的数学方法
Glenn's analysis involves such complex mathematics
他认为会花上数年的时间来找到答案
that he imagines it will take years to find the answer.
那将会非常令人兴奋
I will be incredibly excited
如果我们发现吉恩·皮埃尔的12面体
if we turn out to find Jean-Pierre's dodechahedra.
就像发现地球是圆的
It will be like discovering that the Earth is round
而不是扁的
rather than flat.
但这些科学家并不等待数据
But this scientist is not waiting for data
去回答里程碑式的问题
to answer this monumental question.
安迪·阿尔布雷希特是戴维斯大学的理论物理学家
Andy Albrecht, a theoretical physicist at U.C. Davis,
他确信宇宙是有限的
is sure the Universe is finite.
他甚至认为他能计算出它的大小
He even thinks he can calculate its size.
安迪专注于研究大爆♥炸♥的最初始时刻
Andy studies the very first moments after the Big Bang,
当空间什么也没有的时候
when space was nothing more
只有一个沸腾的，混沌的能量球体
than a seething, chaotic ball of energy.
突然，一个被称为暴涨的过程发生了
Suddenly, a process called inflation takes hold.
它使得宇宙，以难以置信的速率膨胀
It balloons up the Universe at an incredible rate,
几分之一秒的时间里
doubling its size 100,000 times.
体积大了100，000倍
A fraction of a second later,
所有空间和物质都平顺的散开
all space and matter is smoothly spread out.
大多数科学家相信
Most scientists believe
暴涨还在继续
inflation is still happening today.
关于暴涨的理论
The going way of thinking about inflation
会给我们一个其实是无限的宇宙
is that it gives us a truly infinite Universe.
暴涨本身不会结束
The inflation itself never ends.
我对无限的意义想的越多
The more I thought about what that infinity might really mean,
越感觉到它或许不靠谱
the more I realized it probably didn't make sense.
所以，安迪开始着手于，没有所谓无限的
So, Andy began working on a new theory of inflation,
新的暴涨理论
without infinities.
令数学家昏头昏脑的
It's dizzying mathematics,
是我们研究
dealing with the laws of physics
关于宇宙存在前的物理定律
before the Universe as we know it existed.
但在它的核心，都归结为泡泡
But at its core, it all boils down to bubbles.
一个完全随机的过程
A random process starts the formation
组成了我们的宇宙
of the bubble that is our Universe.
我会随意的吹胀这个泡泡
I will be the random process and blow the bubble.
传统的暴涨理论
The traditional view of inflation
认为这个泡泡会无限膨胀
imagines this bubble inflates forever.
但安迪用幼儿园的水平
But Andy now takes the lessons he learned in kindergarten
也能发觉
as a serious insight.
一个泡泡在膨胀到很大后，肯定会爆♥炸♥
A bubble can only grow so big before it pops.
安迪认为，当宇宙空间膨胀到最大的时候
Andy believes inflation must stop
暴涨必须会停止
when space gets to a certain maximum size,
他前无古人的理论，预测了宇宙的实际大小
and his pioneering theory predicts that size.
只比我们可见的宇宙大
The Universe is actually just about 20% bigger
大约20%
than what we see around us today.
当我开始着手这个理论的时候
When I first started trying out those ideas,
最困难的是，从无限到这么小的尺度
it was really difficult to go all the way from infinity
它只是大那么一点点
to such a small thing, just a little bit larger --
只是比我们周围能看见的大20%
just 20% larger than what we see around us today.
实际上，我觉得有点幽闭恐惧
I actually felt claustrophobic.
但是，如果安迪的新理论是对的
But if Andy's new theory is right
暴涨并不会一直持续
and inflation does not go on forever,
我们的宇宙应该像
our Universe could look something like this --
一个被一串小泡泡围绕的大泡泡
a large bubble surrounded by a cluster of smaller ones.
大多数宇宙学家认为
Most cosmologists think inflation
暴涨是可见宇宙中
is the best explanation for the even spread of galaxies
星系能平均分布的最好解释
across our visible Universe.
但宇宙空间的远端
But far out in space,
或许有从没有发生过暴涨的地方
there may be regions where inflation never took place.
找到那些地方，你能成为第一个
Find those, and you could be the first
发现宇宙的边缘存在的证据的人
to find evidence of the edge of the Universe.
夜空中永恒的光线之舞
The eternal dance of light in the night sky --
令几千年来的人类着迷
it has fascinated humankind for thousands of years,
以致上帝，神话产生了
given birth to Gods, myths,
最终，产生了科学
and, finally, to science.
现在，关于天堂的奇怪动向的迹象
But now there are hints of strange movements
出现了
in the heavens.
如果这些迹象能够被验证
If they can be verified,
这会成为宇宙存在边界的
they'll be the first hard evidence
第一铁证
that there is an edge to the Universe.
莎莎·卡什林斯基是美国宇航局的宇宙学家
Sasha Kashlinsky is a NASA astronomer.
他声称探测到了
He claims to have detected
宇宙奇异的动作模式
a pattern of movement in the heavens so bizarre
那会兴起一场关于宇宙理论的革命
that it could revolutionize our theory of the Universe,
就像大爆♥炸♥理论曾经引起的
just as the Big Bang once did.
我们来到格兰德高尔夫球场
We're here at Glendale Golf Course
位于美国宇航局的歌♥德太空飞行中心附近
near NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
我们来到这里模拟大爆♥炸♥
And we came here to simulate the Big Bang.
现在让我们试试看
So let me try and do that.
就像你看到的
As you see, the balls,
这些球刚刚从它们共同的中心点分开
they just move away from the mutual center.
从大爆♥炸♥的中心点开始的
This even spreading-out of galaxies
这种平均分布的星系
from a central explosive beginning
就是天文学家从夜空中看到的
is what astronomers see when they look at the night sky.
但莎莎想更精确的测量
But Sasha wanted to check more precisely
星系能运行多快，和向什么方向运行
how fast and in what direction galaxies are moving
看看是否有那些微妙的偏差
to see if there might be any subtle deviations.
他用了一种只能在星系簇的
He used an effect that can only be seen
碰撞中观察到的效应
when clusters of galaxies are colliding.
在它们周围的气体会升温几百万度
The gases around them get heated to millions of degrees.
当光从宇宙微波背景辐射当中发出
When light from the cosmic microwave background
穿越这种炽热气体的时候
passes through that hot gas,
会有一点点偏差
it gets subtly altered.
偏差多大，取决于
How much it changes depends on exactly how fast
气体和它围绕的星系运行有多快
the gas and the galaxies it surrounds are moving.
但这种改变极小
But the change is tiny
几乎被背景噪声淹没
and almost completely buried in background noise.
对于每一个星系簇来说，这是一个极微小的数量
For each individual cluster, this is a very tiny amount,
而且会被被噪声吞没
and it gets drowned by the noise.