The universe is made up of many interconnected mini-universes inaccessible to humanity, a Soviet physicist last night told an audience of about 300 people at Jefferson Lecture Hall.

"In different parts of the universe, different observers see endless variations. We cannot see the whole play now, [but] we can try to understand." said Visiting Professor of Physics A.D. Linde.

Linde is the main and only proponent of a theory called "many universe interpretation of inflationary cosmology"--a little known and frequently disbelieved explanation of the universe's expansion.

The many universe theory maintains that there are an infinite number of isolated but related mini-universes, the offspring of a single original mother. "There exist many different mini-universes with all possible types of life inside them," Linde said.

Despite the official atheism of his native land, the professor from the Soviet Union's P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute said he attributed an active role to a divine figure.

"At no time was God lying in the bed and not doing anything," he said. According to Linde, God originally created a universe which infinitely recreates itself according to physical principles.

In a discussion ranging from the role of humanity in determining the nature of the cosmos to the fluctuations of quantum fields, Linde decried what he said was the usual tendency of physicists "to consider metaphysics or philosophy problems irrelevant."

"Those who study physics think too much philosophy and those who study philosophy think too much philosophy in my talk," said Linde.