Physicists discover what a multiverse might really be like

It's likely that you've seen video of ferrofluids doing things like growing spines when exposed to magnets, or being built up into sculptures by artists using magnetic fields. But what if they're not just artistic triumphs? What if ferrofluids can act as models and let scientists learn about the multiverse?

Researchers at The University of Maryland and Towson University have suggested studying ferrofluids as a way of understanding how multiverses form. This first sprang from an interest in metamaterials as ways to model physical behavior. Metamaterials are human-made materials that exhibit characteristics which no one sees in natural materials. They happen to coincide, in some behaviors, with the odder bits of the physical universe. In fact, the researchers argue applying a strong magnetic field to the vacuum of space itself makes it act like a metamaterial.

They specifically took a look at ferrofluids, which are fluids with metal filaments suspended in them. When a magnetic field is applied to them, they create elaborate solid structures. They're not metamaterials in and of themselves, but under certain influences, they form tiny columns and groups of wires that function as metamaterials. Specifically, they form hyperbolic metamaterials. Hyperbolic metamaterials play tricks on light; light moving one way will interact with the material like it's a metal, while light traveling another way will act with the material as if it were transparent glass. The researchers keep the ferrofluids at a point just before they turn into a hyperbolic metamaterial, and let random thermal fluctuations in the ferrofluid kick it up so it develops pockets of hyperbolic metamaterial briefly and spontaneously.

more here: http://io9.com/5983546/what-ferrofluids-can-teach-us-about-the-multiverse