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Do other universes like ours exist? If they exist, how do we know that they exist when we have even not seen the ends of our own universe?

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    $\begingroup$ A side note, there isn't necessarily and end to our universe for us to see $\endgroup$
    – user96
    Sep 25, 2013 at 13:52
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    $\begingroup$ In another universe right now, an exact copy of you posted the question "Do parallel universes not exist?" $\endgroup$
    – Paul
    Aug 14, 2014 at 13:26
  • $\begingroup$ @Paul : could you please elaborate it and give some reference. $\endgroup$
    – ashu
    Aug 14, 2014 at 13:49
  • $\begingroup$ @ashu - it was simply a joke. Apparently not a good one. Please disregard! $\endgroup$
    – Paul
    Aug 14, 2014 at 17:14

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The simple answer is (as with so much in astronomy):
We Don't Know

Parallel universes may or may not exist. There is no definitive way to prove that these universes do or don't exist.

A parallel universe is a separate existence to ours. The Theories that suggest that there may be parallel universes are classified as theories of multiverses. There are many theories of multiverse, all of which propose different ideas about what could exist beyond the limits of our universe. There are also theories that suggest that the multiverse doesn't exist, although the theories with most support are by far the multiverse theories.

For a nice reference in book form, see Steinhardt and Turok's "Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang". Also, see Max Tegmark's work on multiverses levels I-IV (Max Tegmark -> See his Scientific American article entitled Parallel Universes).

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  • $\begingroup$ Can you please provide any reference to a theory which suggests that multiverse doesn't exists? $\endgroup$
    – ashu
    Sep 25, 2013 at 13:05
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    $\begingroup$ @ashu good point. There are some, but I do not have the time at the moment to trawl through the whole internet to find them. Pretty much all of the mainstream theories are multiverse/parallel universe theories, meaning that singular universe theories are hard to find. $\endgroup$ Sep 25, 2013 at 13:14
  • $\begingroup$ @ashu See the book called 'Our Mathematical Universe' by Max Tegmark for a very extensive treatment of current hypotheses related to multiple universes. Please understand that this is all hypothetical. Current accepted science says nothing about multiple universes. The book is about 1/3 established science, 1/3 somewhere on the outer edges, and 1/3 speculation. But it's written by a leading cosmologist, so it should give you a good idea of what scientists in this field are thinking about when trying to expand this field. $\endgroup$ Aug 14, 2017 at 19:11
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If they exist, they are out of anything we can ever reach. They are (by definition) out of our Universe, so we can not affect them and they can not affect us in any way. That's the same as saying that, for any experimental definition, they do not exist.

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Parallel universes are a theory, we just don't know yet. No one has slid into one. (slid coming from the series Sliders ) According to the Big Bang theory, multiverses are possible. https://www.universeguide.com/facts/multiverse Britains' most well known physics scientist/presenter Prof Brian Cox @ProfBrianCox recently said that multiverses makes sense ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29321771 ).

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