Related papers: No alternative to proliferation
The quantum theory of decoherence plays an important role in a pragmatist interpretation of quantum theory. It governs the descriptive content of claims about values of physical magnitudes and offers advice on when to use quantum…
We add non-linear and state-dependent terms to quantum field theory. We show that the resulting low-energy theory, non-linear quantum mechanics, is causal, preserves probability and permits a consistent description of the process of…
Witnessing non-classicality in the gravitational field has been claimed to be practically impossible. This constitutes a deep problem, which has even lead some researchers to question whether gravity should be quantised, due to the weakness…
In physics the value of a theory is measured by its agreement with experimental data. But how should the physics community gauge the value of an emerging theory that has not been tested experimentally as of yet? With no reality check, a…
We survey some philosophical aspects of the search for a quantum theory of gravity, emphasising how quantum gravity throws into doubt the treatment of spacetime common to the two `ingredient theories' (quantum theory and general…
Extended Theories of Gravity can be considered a new paradigm to cure shortcomings of General Relativity at infrared and ultraviolet scales. They are an approach that, by preserving the undoubtedly positive results of Einstein's Theory, is…
The proper resolution of the so-called measurement problem requires a "top-down" conception of the quantum world that is opposed to the usual "bottom-up" conception, which builds on an intrinsically and maximally differentiated manifold.…
No-go theorems have played an important role in the development and assessment of scientific theories. They have stopped whole research programs and have given rise to strong ontological commitments. Given the importance they obviously have…
Starting from a new understanding of the vacuum energy problem based on the combination of the phase space regularization and the holographic bound, we argue that quantum gravity should be understood as gravitized quantum theory, that is,…
The task of testing whether quantum theory applies to all physical systems and all scales requires considering situations where a quantum probe interacts with another system that need not obey quantum theory in full. Important examples…
The classical concept of "mass density" is not fundamental to the quantum theory of matter. Therefore, mass density cannot be the source of gravitation. Here, we treat electromagnetic energy, momentum, and stress as its source. The…
We aim here to show that reductionism and emergence play a complementary role in understanding natural processes and in the dynamics of science explanation. In particular, we will show that the renormalization group - one of the most…
We argue that recent developments in discretizations of classical and quantum gravity imply a new paradigm for doing research in these areas. The paradigm consists in discretizing the theory in such a way that the resulting discrete theory…
Although it's widely believed that gravity should have a quantum nature like every other force, the conceptual obstacles to constructing a quantum theory of gravity compel us to explore other perspectives. Gravity is not like any other…
A non-classical, non-quantum theory, or NCQ, is any fully consistent theory that differs fundamentally from both the corresponding classical and quantum theories, while exhibiting certain features common to both. Such theories are of…
We consider the problem of rational decision making in the presence of nonlinear constraints. By using tools borrowed from spin glass and random matrix theory, we focus on the portfolio optimisation problem. We show that the number of…
Equivalence principles played a central role in the development of general relativity. Furthermore, they have provided operative procedures for testing the validity of general relativity, or constraining competing theories of gravitation.…
We propose the idea that not all energy is a source of gravity. We discuss the role of energy in the theory of gravitation and provide a formulation of gravity which takes into account the quantum nature of the source. We show that gravity…
An approach is presented treating decision theory as a probabilistic theory based on quantum techniques. Accurate definitions are given and thorough analysis is accomplished for the quantum probabilities describing the choice between…
We argue using simple models that all successful practical uses of probabilities originate in quantum fluctuations in the microscopic physical world around us, often propagated to macroscopic scales. Thus we claim there is no physically…