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Some string theorists have ventured into cosmology, hoping,
to discover some effect that would show up in the poor
man's particle accelerator, the sky. 

In addition to strings, the theory also includes membranes,
or "branes," of various dimensions. Our universe can be
envisioned as such a brane floating in higher-dimensional
space like a leaf in a fish tank, perhaps with other brane
universes nearby. These branes could interact
gravitationally or even collide, setting off the Big Bang. 

In one version suggested last year by four cosmologists
led by Dr. Steinhardt of Princeton, another brane would
repeatedly collide with our own. They pass back and forth
through each other, causing our universe to undergo an
eternal chain of big bangs. 

Such notions are probably the future for those who are paid
to wonder about the universe. 

And the fruits of this work could yet cause cosmologists to
reconsider their new consensus, warned Dr. Peebles of
Princeton, who has often acted as the conscience of the
cosmological community, trying to put the brakes on faddish
trends. 

He wonders whether the situation today can be compared to
another historical era, around 1900, when many people
thought that physics was essentially finished and when the
English physicist Lord Kelvin said that just a couple of
"clouds" remained to be dealt with. 

"A few annoying tidbits, which turned out to be relativity
and quantum theory," the twin revolutions of 20th-century
science, Dr. Peebles said. 

Likewise, there are a few clouds today like what he called
"the dark sector," which could have more complicated
physics than cosmologists think. 

"I'm not convinced these clouds herald revolutions as deep
as relativity and quantum mechanics," Dr. Peebles said.
"I'm not arguing that they won't." 

As for the fate of the universe, we will never have a firm
answer, said Dr. Sandage, who was Hubble's protégé and has
seen it all. 

"It's like asking, `Does God exist?' " he said.


Predicting the future, he pointed out, requires faith that
simple mathematical models really work to describe the
universe. 

"I don't think we really know how things work," he said.


Although Dr. Sandage does not buy into all aspects of the
emerging orthodoxy, he said it was a fantastic time to be
alive. 

"It's all working toward a much grander synthesis than we
could have imagined 100 years ago," he said. "I think this
is the most exciting life I could have had."

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/23/science/space/23UNIV.html?ex=1028416223&ei=1&en=ff38ea5fac0c9158



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