Quantum Mechanics, Gravity, and the Multiverse
Abstract
The discovery of accelerating expansion of the universe has led us to take the dramatic view that our universe may be one of the many universes in which low energy physical laws take different forms: the multiverse. I explain why/how this view is supported both observationally and theoretically, especially by string theory and eternal inflation. I then describe how quantum mechanics plays a crucial role in understanding the multiverse, even at the largest distance scales. The resulting picture leads to a revolutionary change of our view of spacetime and gravity, and completely unifies the paradigm of the eternally inflating multiverse with the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. The picture also provides a solution to a long-standing problem in eternal inflation, called the measure problem, which I briefly describe.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1205.2675,
title = {Quantum Mechanics, Gravity, and the Multiverse},
author = {Yasunori Nomura},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1205.2675},
year = {2012}
}
Comments
18 pages, 6 figures. An article published in the Astronomical Review, based on talks given by the author at various institutions. v2: a note added