Quantum signature and Branching timelines

[Hando]

The TNG episode "Parallels" introduced to us and/or confirmed the fact that Star Trek is multiverse.
We learn not only that every alternate universe has a unique quantum signature, but that over time new alternate universes are created due to branching timelines.

And there lies the crux of the problem it appears to be an oxymoron.

We start with universe "A" with quantum signature "a" and later the universe branches into "A1" and "A2".
Now here is the issue:
1) Do both of them have quantum signature "a"?
2) Does one have "a" and the other "aa"/"a2" or such?
3) Do they have "a1" and "a2" respectively?

 

[Ronald Held]

Not the TOS episode Mirror Mirror or the alternative factor?

 

[Nerys Myk]

The TNG episode "Parallels" introduced to us and/or confirmed the fact that Star Trek is multiverse.
We learn not only that every alternate universe has a unique quantum signature, but that over time new alternate universes are created due to branching timelines.

And there lies the crux of the problem it appears to be an oxymoron.

We start with universe "A" with quantum signature "a" and later the universe branches into "A1" and "A2".
Now here is the issue:
1) Do both of them have quantum signature "a"?
2) Does one have "a" and the other "aa"/"a2" or such?
3) Do they have "a1" and "a2" respectively?

Two and three. Which seem to be the same thing.

 

[at Quark's]

Funny thing is, nowhere does the parallels script actually say these 'alternate quantum realities'universes are created at that very moment. It simply notes they exist.

 

[Ronald Held]

Trek is big on assuming MWI for there alternate universes. I have no idea what a quantum signature is short of technobabble.

 

[Deks]

If I'm not mistaken, a quantum signature was described in TNG as a vibration of an individual's structure (or in the case of that episode, DNA) on a certain frequency.
Namely, if that frequency was out of tune with the rest of the vibrational frequency of the universe, it usually meant that they were from an alternate reality.
It's grounded in quantum mechanics, so its' not entirely made up technobabble.

Besides, what people usually refer to as 'technobabble' is for the most part their unwillingness to listed to detailed explanation of how things work... which is quite sad actually.
A spacefaring civilization would RELY on technology and science heavily to solve problems, and Trek is no different.
Technical speak should be made in a more consistent capacity, but some stuff might end up being made up because we cannot accurately predict what kind of technologies will exist 400 years down the line.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The problem is that, if alternate universes are springing off for every possible outcome of every event anywhere, that signature must be constantly changing as our POV incarnation of the crew weave through the possibilities?

 

[blssdwlf]

In Star Trek it would seem that the multiverse might have already started off with multiple universes ("Normal Matter", "Antimatter", "Mirror", etc) and each universe has a singular, but malleable, timeline. So "Parallels" would be an intersection of (and hopping between) a bunch of universes and "Tomorrow is Yesterday" and "Star Trek IV:The Voyage Home" is time-traveling within a single universe (because of their method of travel) while "Trek 09"'s different method of travel spawns a new alternate universe. All, IMHO.

 

[Deks]

The problem is that, if alternate universes are springing off for every possible outcome of every event anywhere, that signature must be constantly changing as our POV incarnation of the crew weave through the possibilities?

The quantum signature of the Trek universe we observe with our heroes however would likely not change.
The only situation for Trek I could see the quantum signature of the 'prime universe' changing is significant alteration to the timeline. Which begs the question, what happens to the original frequency/signature?
It is likely altered, or temporarily super-imposed with another one, and most of the time we see temporal 'incursions' which end up being fixed... bringing the universe in sync.
Other times, we could be seeing a 'merger' of the two... in which case, the original universe/frequency would alter during the merger, but ultimately stabilize into its original frequency (literally 'eating up' the other one while integrating it into itself).
It is also possible that some predestination paradoxes we observed in Trek would likely be necessary. An occasional alternate reality intersects by manifesting itself as a timeline disruption, prompting our heroes (from the original timeline with memories intact, or coming by info that changes were recent and need changing) to use that information and set things right.

Keep in mind that the multiverse theory theorizes there are infinite number of universes, as such, there might not be new universes forming at all, just infinite universes interacting with each other in certain ways as can be seen in this study:
https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.4.041013

So... why would new universes need to be created if you already have an infinite number of them interacting with each other?
It's all energy and motion... and if you want to simplify it even further, in some cases, we might even see a 'broken telephone' playing out with universes interacting with each other... namely, the farther apart universes are, the interaction might end up going through changes, interruptions even, and some data loss may occur, resulting in greater and greater changes the further apart you move away from the universe in which you originated.
Granted, my understanding of the subject is relatively limited, so this might not happen at all.

There's also something else to consider.
I remember reading (admittedly on Wikipedia) some time ago that there's a difference between what we call an 'alternate universe' and 'parallel universe'.
Namely, in an alternate universe, only certain events will differ (such as people's choices, evolution of Earth, the existence or Earth, and so forth) while in parallel universes the laws of physics would differ.

 

[Nebusj]

We start with universe "A" with quantum signature "a" and later the universe branches into "A1" and "A2".
Now here is the issue:
1) Do both of them have quantum signature "a"?
2) Does one have "a" and the other "aa"/"a2" or such?
3) Do they have "a1" and "a2" respectively?

If we must have a multiverse, isn't it less troublesome to suppose that 'A1' and 'A2' always coexisted (pretending we have a coherent idea what that means), but that before the 'branching' moment they were not even in principle discernible? At the least it avoids the problem of figuring out why all these universes keep getting suddenly created all the time.

 

[Jerikka Dawn]

This is just some quantum woo I made up just to satisfy my OCD when I had this same question while thinking about this episode.

Suppose the quantum signature, being the basis of reality and the signature that all matter in the universe resonates at, is always changing as events unfold and as realities diverge, but all devices inside a particular reality used to scan for this signature, all records documenting what it is, and any science geek's knowledge of it, being entangled with same reality, will always read this constantly changing signature as something that has always been one particular way. They'd interpret what they read as the signature that all matter resonates at and not notice that at a meta-level, it's really constantly changing, along with all their rulers and notebooks.

When realities diverge, that signature also diverges. By the time Worf jumped tracks, his reality's signature had diverged far enough away that Alt-Data noticed his was different.

Edit to add:
Or perhaps that signature never changes within a particular quantum reality, but is somehow a function of the sum of all events that occur along that particular reality's timeline -- past, present, and future, so it would read the same no matter when in that particular reality's timeline you scanned some matter to determine that signature.

Let's me sleep at night, sorta.

Edit: arrangement.

 

[USS Triumphant]

I think you've almost got it, Jerrika - or at least, what you were saying before the edit jives with my thinking. The only thing I feel like you left out is that when an individual or item moves from one universe to another, they carry a pocket of their quantum reality with them almost like a skin-tight static warp bubble.

 

[Go-Captain]

It might be best to assume the quantum signature changes very slowly. The differences of only a few days might be so small as to be undetectable, but the changes of a decade might be readily detectable. When being sent back somewhere, that quantum signature might only be a best fit, rather than a perfect fit.

It would also make sense for a person's signature to gradually change over time while in a new universe. The matter of people is exchanged over time by way of biological processes, so eventually a person might have a majority signature originating in the new universe. That would take a decade for as near a full change as possible. I suppose a person's teeth or bones would not change.

 

[DonIago]

Perhaps another question is whether it matters whether the signature changes or stays the same, since to everyone in that particular timeline the signature would have always been the same anyhow.