Natural Selection in the Population of Universes

Abstract

The concept of an infinitely large number of universes, also referred to as the concept of the multiverse, grew out of the discussion concerning the anthropic principles. However, soon it started to appear in other contexts, and even developed a quantitative approach. This was true of the chaotic cosmology proposed by Linde, who constructed an inflationary cosmological model that led in a natural way to the “continual production of universes” (see Chap. 6). Although in his declarations he has often invoked philosophical motives (he wanted to secure “an eternal existence” for the family of universes), the chaotic inflation model was not prompted solely by philosophical inspiration.