How did Max Tegmark connect the universe to mathematical formal systems?

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Discover the difference between the observable universe and the whole universe — Multiverse Learn about the distinction between the observable universe and the whole universe.

Max Tegmark, alongside German computer scientist Jürgen Schmidhuber, hypothesized that the known universe is equivalent to a mathematical formal system.1

In this framework, Tegmark suggests that all such mathematical systems—or at least a specific class of them—are equally real, implying that the observable universe is merely one instance within a broader collection of mathematical structures. This perspective aligns with the concept of modal realism, which posits that all possible worlds coexist with equal reality.1