Paper: astro-ph/0506519
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 00:20:27 GMT (32kb)

Title: On making predictions in a multiverse: conundrums, dangers, and
coincidences

Authors: Anthony Aguirre (UC Santa Cruz)
Comments: 17 pages. Invited article for the book ``Universe or Multiverse?'',
ed. B. Carr, to be published by Cambridge University Press (2005)
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The notion that there are many "universes" with different properties is one
answer to the question of "why is the universe so hospitable to life?" This
notion also naturally follows from current ideas in eternal inflation and
string/M theory. But how do we test such a "multiverse" theory: which of the
many universes do we compare to ours? This paper enumerates would would seem to
be essential ingredients for making testable predictions, outlines different
strategies one might take within this framework, then discusses some of the
difficulties and dangers inherent in these approaches. Finally, I address the
issue of whether there may be some general, qualitative predictions that
multiverse theories might share.

\\ ( http://arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0506519 , 32kb)