https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201716407011
Do we live in the best of all possible worlds? The fine-tuning of the constants of nature
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Platanenallee 6, 15738 Zeuthen, Germany
a Corresponding author: Thomas.Naumann@desy.de
Published online: 5 December 2017
Our existence depends on a variety of constants which appear to be extremely fine-tuned to allow for the existence of life. These include the number of spatial dimensions, the strengths of the forces, the masses of the particles, the composition of the Universe and others. On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the death of G.W. Leibniz we discuss the question of whether we live in the “Best of all Worlds”. The hypothesis of a multiverse could explain the mysterious fine tuning of so many fundamental quantities. Anthropic arguments are critically reviewed.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2017
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
