[W. M.]

This is intended to be an abridged overview of the *theorized* multiverse system. Bear in mind, I have only given brief summaries of these types of universes and multiverses without intending to explain them in great detail. Also, there may be other multiverse types not explained here.

First things first: We need to define the word universe, which is a complete set of objects (Stars, planets, beings) and physical laws. A multiverse is a complete set of universes, or a universe of universes, and a parallel universe is another universe contained within the same multiverse as other universes.

Before the multiverse, there was nothing except for the uncertainty of the quantum principal, which became unstable and formed bubbles. These bubbles expanded rapidly (Big Bangs, Creation), each one of them a burgeoning universe, with Our universe being such a bubble, which in turn is contained within a much larger bubble of bubbles known as a multiverse.

There are at least four types of multiverses: Level I, II, III, and IV. Level I multiverse structures are the simplest, as a Level I parallel universe is merely a region of space that is too far away to have been seen by us yet. This distance is approximately 42 billion light years (one light Eon, or lEon - my term), or the distance light has traveled since the Big Bang or Creation. The differences between the universes is in the arrangement of matter, so Level I parallel universes are basically the same as our universe.

Level II multiverses contain Level I multiverses (think nesting) that may have different laws of physics than those of our multiverse or of other multiverses. For instance, the speed of light in all of the universes in our Level I multiverse, including our universe is, according to theory, the fastest that any physical object can travel. But in another Level I multiverse it's possible that objects can travel faster than the speed of light because the laws of physics may be different. The distances between the Level I multiverses within the larger Level II multiverse structure is mostly empty space and very vast.

Level III multiverses are the most mysterious of all, as the Devil is in the details. It is at this level that quantum physics comes into play, where the finite details of each universe within the level II multiverse must be considered, such as the time/motion perception (simultaneity), alternate quantum realities (ergodicity), and personal universes.

The Level IV multiverse is the most abstract of all, and therefore the opposite of the Level III multiverse. This is considered by some to be the ultimate bird's eye view of all the possibilities of creation, as the Level IV multiverse exists outside of space and time, with each universe looking like a static sculpture, neither moving or evolving. Each universe seen at this level would have a different shape, depending on the laws of physics within that particular universe, making the Level IV multiverse the most difficult to visualize.

Bibliography
Scientific American 5/2003
Visions by Michio Kaku
A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram[/b]