Related papers: Astrophysical constraints on the simulation hypoth…
Observable consequences of the hypothesis that the observed universe is a numerical simulation performed on a cubic space-time lattice or grid are explored. The simulation scenario is first motivated by extrapolating current trends in…
This philosophical paper explores the relation between modern scientific simulations and the future of the universe. We argue that a simulation of an entire universe will result from future scientific activity. This requires us to tackle…
In this paper we work out a multiverse scenario whose physical characteristics enable us to advance the following the conjecture that whereas the physics of particles and fields is confined to live in the realm of the whole multiverse…
In order to relate the probabilistic predictions of quantum theory uniquely to measurement results, one has to conceive of an ensemble of identically prepared copies of the quantum system under study. Since the universe is the total domain…
Complex structures can only form in a universe that allows for bound states. While this is clearly observed in three-dimensions, added degrees of freedom in a higher-dimensional space preclude the immediate assumption that binding…
Can the theory that reality is a simulation be tested? We investigate this question based on the assumption that if the system performing the simulation is finite (i.e. has limited resources), then to achieve low computational complexity,…
In the multiverse hypothesis, a range of universes exist with differing values of our physical constants. Here, we investigate how the probabilities of observing our values of these constants depend on the assumptions made about the…
More than a speculative technology, quantum computing seems to challenge our most basic intuitions about how the physical world should behave. In this thesis I show that, while some intuitions from classical computer science must be…
We take our world to be an objective reality, but is it? The assumption that the physical world exists in and of itself has struggled to assimilate the findings of modern physics for some time now. For example, an objective space and time…
We present examples of validating components of an astrophysical simulation code. Problems of stellar astrophysics are multi-dimensional and involve physics acting on large ranges of length and time scales that are impossible to include in…
The aim of cosmological simulations is to reproduce the properties of the observed Universe, serving as tools to test structure and galaxy formation models. Constrained simulations of our local cosmological region up to a few hundred Mpc/h…
The emergence of a complex, large-scale organisation of cosmic matter into the Cosmic Web is a beautiful exemplification of how complexity can be produced by simple initial conditions and simple physical laws. In the epoch of Big Data in…
Many cosmological models assume or imply that the total size of the universe is very large, perhaps even infinite. Here we argue instead that the universe might be comparatively small, in fact not much larger than the currently observed…
Provided a random realization of the cosmological model, observations of our cosmic neighborhood now allow us to build simulations of the latter down to the non-linear threshold. The resulting local Universe models are thus accurate up to a…
This article explores the constraints of perception and cognition in relativistic physics. Describing reality as a cognitive representation of our sensory inputs, the article shows how the limitations in perception translate to the…
Understanding the universe is hampered by the elusiveness of its most common constituent, cold dark matter. Almost impossible to observe, dark matter can be studied effectively by means of simulation and there is probably no other research…
Simulations inform all aspects of modern astrophysical research, ranging in scale from 1D and 2D test problems that can run in seconds on an astronomer's laptop all the way to large-scale 3D calculations that run on the largest…
To better understand the deep significance of our best physical theories it could be interesting to compare our Universe with its models. It may happen that the differences between the model and reality can be made indistinguishable, to the…
Despite the success of modern physics in formulating mathematical theories that can predict the outcome of experiments, we have made remarkably little progress towards answering the most fundamental question of: why is there a universe at…
The question "What is real?" can be traced back to the shadows in Plato's cave. Two thousand years later, Rene Descartes lacked knowledge about arguing against an evil deceiver feeding us the illusion of sensation. Descartes'…