The U.S. government has announced that it will launch an experiment to find out if we live in a 2D hologram.
The U.S. Department of Energy will use its Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, or Holometer, to collect information to try answering questions about the universe, according to a Fermilab press release.
Researchers noted that characters on a TV show wouldn't show that their apparently 3D world only exists on a 2D screen while explaining the possibility of a 2D universe.
They did say we could be living in a 2D universe with just an illusion of a 3D space however.
Researchers running the study believe that all the information in the universe could be contained into tiny 2D packages, like pixels on a TV screen, only trillions and trillions of times smaller than an atom, according to the release.
It is impossible to know the location and speed of subatomic particles, according to quantum theory. The universe would fall into the same category of uncertainty if it is made of 2D particles with little information on their locations.
Matter continues to emit quantum waves when cooled to absolute zero. If theoretical 2D packages follow the same theory, then they should continue to vibrate even in matter's lowest energy state.
"We want to find out whether space-time is a quantum system, just like matter is," said Craig Hogan, director of the laboratory, according to the release. "If we see something, it will completely change ideas about space we've used for thousands of years."
The researchers said that their experiment will look at the "limits of the universe's ability to store information."
The Holometer is the most sensitive device ever created to measure the quantum "jitter" of space. It works by using a pair of interferometers placed close to one another.
"Each one sends a one-kilowatt laser beam (the equivalent of 200,000 laser pointers) at a beam splitter and down two perpendicular 40-meter arms," the scientists said in a statement.
"The light is then reflected back to the beam splitter where the two beams recombine, creating fluctuations in brightness if there is motion. Researchers analyze these fluctuations in the returning light to see if the beam splitter is moving in a certain way - being carried along on a jitter of space itself," they added.
The Holometer is designed to test frequencies so high that the motions of normal matter won't be detected.
"If we find a noise we can't get rid of, we might be detecting something fundamental about nature - a noise that is intrinsic to space-time," said project manager for the Holometer Aaron Chou, according to the release. "It's an exciting moment for physics. A positive result will open a whole new avenue of questioning about how space works."
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