Concept

Parallel universes in fiction

Summary
A parallel universe, also known as a alternate universe, parallel world, or alternate reality, is a hypothetical self-contained plane of existence, co-existing with one's own. The sum of all potential parallel universes that constitute reality is often called a "multiverse". While the five terms are generally synonymous and can be used interchangeably in most cases, there is sometimes an additional connotation implied with the term "alternate universe/reality" that implies that the reality is a variant of our own, with some overlap with the similarly named alternate history. Fiction has long borrowed an idea of "another world" from myth, legend and religion. Heaven, Hell, Olympus, and Valhalla are all "alternative universes" different from the familiar material realm. Plato reflected deeply on the parallel realities, resulting in Platonism, in which the upper reality is perfect while the lower earthly reality is an imperfect shadow of the heavenly. The concept is also found in ancient Hindu mythology, in texts such as the Puranas, which expressed an infinite number of universes, each with its own gods. Similarly in Persian literature, "The Adventures of Bulukiya," a tale in the One Thousand and One Nights, describes the protagonist Bulukiya learning of alternative worlds/universes that are similar to but still distinct from his own. One of the first science fiction examples is Murray Leinster's short story Sidewise in Time, published in 1934, in which portions of alternative universes replace corresponding geographical regions in this universe. Sidewise in Time analogizes time to the geographic coordinate system, with travel along latitude corresponding to time travel moving through past, present and future, and travel along longitude corresponding to travel perpendicular to time and to other realities, hence the name of the story. Thus, another common term for a parallel universe is "another dimension," stemming from the idea that if the 4th dimension is time, the 5th dimension—a direction at a right angle to the fourth—is an alternate reality.
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related publications (3)

Cross-sections of line configurations in R-3 and (d-2)-flat configurations in R-d

Andres Jacinto Ruiz Vargas

We consider sets L = {l(1),..., l(n)} of n labeled lines in general position in R-3, and study the order types of point sets {p(1),..., p(n)} that stem from the intersections of the lines in L with (directed) planes Pi, not parallel to any line of L, that ...
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV2019

Uncertainty propagation by using spectral methods: A practical application to a two-dimensional turbulence fluid model

Paolo Ricci, Fabio Riva

To reduce the computational cost of the uncertainty propagation analysis, which is used to study the impact of input parameter variations on the results of a simulation, a general and simple to apply methodology based on decomposing the solution to the mod ...
American Institute of Physics2017

Topological defects and gravity in theories with extra dimensions

Ewald Rössl

Recent proposals of large and infinite extra dimensions triggered a strong research activity in theories in which our universe is considered as a sub-manifold of some higher-dimensional space-time, a so-called 3-brane. In this context, it is generally assu ...
EPFL2004
Related concepts (25)
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 (cover-dated September 1963). Labeled "Earth's Mightiest Heroes," the original Avengers consisted of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Hulk, Thor and the Wasp. Captain America was discovered trapped in ice in issue #4, and joined the group after they revived him.
The Man in the High Castle
The Man in the High Castle (1962), by Philip K. Dick, is an alternative history novel wherein the Axis Powers won World War II. The story occurs in 1962, fifteen years after the end of the war in 1947, and depicts the life of several characters living under Imperial Japan or Nazi Germany as they rule the partitioned United States. The titular character is the mysterious author of a novel-within-the-novel entitled The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, a subversive alternative history of the war in which the Allied Powers are victorious.
Media franchise
A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Bob Iger, chief executive of the Walt Disney Company, defined the word franchise as "something that creates value across multiple businesses and across multiple territories over a long period of time". A media franchise often consists of cross-marketing across more than one medium.
Show more