ETERNAL CHAOTIC INFLATION

Instead of a universe with a single law of physics, eternal inflation predicts a self-replicating, eternally existing multiverse where all possibilities can be realized. Eternal inflation predicts that in some other universe you are reading this article right now. Inflationary cosmology has some jaw-dropping implications; that ours may be but one universe in an eternally self-replicating multiverse; that each universe has its own laws of physics; that our universe might collapse in a Big Crunch many billion years from now. There is another startling notion- that scientists, applying the principle of inflationary cosmology, might one day be able to create a universe in the lab. If we define universe as all there is or all that exists, then obviously, by definition, there can only be one universe. But if we define universe as all we can ever see (no matter how large our telescopes) or space-time regions that expand together, then many universes may indeed exist; there is nothing in science more awesome, more majestic. To discern the nature of ultimate reality, one must begin with the challenge of multiple-universes.