Why Is There Something Rather Than Everything? By Sky Nelson The title is not a typo.

In physics and metaphysics circles, we often state the biggest question of all: Why is there something rather than nothing? Yet the fact that we have so much difficulty answering this question might lead one to believe that we havent actually asked the right question. Indeed, if we consider the mathematics of Fourier space, which describes patterns in signal processing, we find a hint that the question might be better understood as Why is there something rather than everything? For instance, a wide pulse in space (analogous to an obstacle blocking a light beam in a diffraction experiment) will have a Fourier frequency spectrum as in Fig. 1 below. This shows that in order to create a large (or non-localized) object, we need a very narrow spectrum with very little contribution from most frequencies.

On the other hand, a much smaller localized pulse in space will have a Fourier frequency representation as in Figure 2 below. Here we see that we have more contributions from a broader range of frequencies. Figure 3 shows a pulse with zero width, and we can see that it takes equal amounts of every frequency to generate this.

The mathematics of Fourier space behaves such that it requires nearly all frequencies in the spectrum to produce a tiny localized pulse. As we subtract frequencies from the spectrum (progressing in reverse from figure 3b back to figure 2b and then figure 1b), we get a resulting space-time signal (from figure 3a to 2a to 1a) that is more and more spread out. The implication I am pursuing here is that fundamental particles, such as electrons, would have a Fourier frequency representation in the manner described here. Furthermore, the frequency spectrum required to generate such point particles would be, in fact, huge. In order to go from nothing to something in physical space, we must start with an infinite spectrum of vibrations in Fourier space (representing empty physical space), and begin removing (attenuating) certain frequencies. As we remove frequencies in a methodical way from the Fourier representations, we can begin to see larger forms and patterns emerging in the space-time representations of these signals. If instead we want to leave the space empty, it requires an enormous (read infinite) signal. The miracle, then, is not how does the empty space take on matter, but rather, how does the space remain empty and not fill up with infinite matter? How is the immense frequency spectrum that is required to maintain empty space generated throughout the cosmos? To me, this is not just a philosophical question. My work on macroscopic quantum states (1) (2) leads me to think that our physical world is a Fourier transformed reflection of a mathematical wave space that contains information about all of our possible futures. Many aspects of cutting edge physics support this concept. Fourier optics, a well-established discipline of advanced optics, supports the view that light interacts with the Fourier transform of the physical world, rather than the physical world itself. In modern cosmology, we have found that empty space has a vacuum energy that is so enormously huge that it is an embarrassment to theoretical physics, on the order of 10122 times bigger than expected (this number is far larger than any stretch of the imagination can comprehend). It seems appropriate, then, to wonder if the Fourier representation of the world gives us a clue. Maybe the right question to ask is How is it possible that I could have a finite existence when the natural way of things would be to have infinity everywhere?