Related papers: The universe as an eigenstate: spacetime paths and…
The observable universe is necessarily hospitable for life. There are indications, however, that the laws of physics and cosmological parameters need not take the form and values observed, and if they were slightly different life could not…
We define the idea of {\it real path quantum theory}, a realist generalisation of quantum theory in which it is postulated that the configuration space path actually followed by a closed quantum system is probabilistically chosen. This is…
The mathematical similarities between non-relativistic wavefunction propagation in quantum mechanics and image propagation in scalar diffraction theory are used to develop a novel understanding of time and paths through spacetime as a…
This paper discusses work developed in recent years, in the domain of quantum optics, which has led to a better understanding of the classical limit of quantum mechanics. New techniques have been proposed, and experimentally demonstrated,…
According to the inflationary scenario of cosmology, all structure in the Universe can be traced back to primordial fluctuations during an accelerated (inflationary) phase of the very early Universe. A conceptual problem arises due to the…
In this essay we discuss the difference in views of the Universe as seen by two different observers. While one of the observers follows a geodesic congruence defined by the geometry of the cosmological model, the other observer follows the…
Quantum mechanics states that a particle emitted at point (x_1,t_1) and detected at point (x_2,t_2) does not travel along a definite path between the two points. This conclusion arises essentially from the analysis of the two-slit…
In the context of the decoherent histories approach to quantum theory, it is shown that a class of macroscopic configurations consisting of histories of local densities (number, momentum, energy) exhibit negligible interference. This…
I review arguments demonstrating how the concept of "particle" numbers arises in the form of equidistant energy eigenvalues of coupled harmonic oscillators representing free fields. Their quantum numbers (numbers of nodes of the wave…
A striking feature of our fundamentally indeterministic quantum universe is its quasiclassical realm -- the wide range of time place and scale in which the deterministic laws of classical physics hold. Our quasiclassical realmis an emergent…
We investigate the most general phase space of configurations, consisting of the collection of all possible ways of assigning elementary attributes, "energies", to elementary positions, "cells". We discuss how this space defines a…
In this paper we discuss a cosmological model for a universe with self-regulating features. We set up the theoretical framework for the model and determine the time evolution of the scale-factor $a(t)$. It is shown that such a universe…
Quantum mechanical unitarity in our universe is challenged both by the notion of the big bang, in which nothing transforms into something, and the expansion of space, in which something transforms into more something. This motivates the…
Decoherence is caused by the interaction with the environment. Environment monitors certain observables of the system, destroying interference between the pointer states corresponding to their eigenvalues. This leads to environment-induced…
Coherent states, and the Hilbert space representations they generate, provide ideal tools to discuss classical/quantum relationships. In this paper we analyze three separate classical/quantum problems using coherent states, and show that…
In quantum cosmology, one applies quantum physics to the whole universe. While no unique version and no completely well-defined theory is available yet, the framework gives rise to interesting conceptual, mathematical and physical…
In this paper we study the decoherence processes of the semiclassical branches of an accelerated universe due to their interaction with a scalar field with given mass. We use a third quantization formalism to analyze the decoherence between…
I explain in what sense the structure of space and time is probably vague or indefinite, a notion I define. This leads to the mathematical representation of location in space and time by a vague interval. From this, a principle of…
Rather than an a priori arena in which events take place, space-time is a construction of our mind making possible a particular kind of ordering of events. As quantum entanglement is a property of states independent of classical distances,…
We investigate the representation of the geometrical information of the universe in terms of the eigenvalues of the Laplacian defined on the universe. We concentrate only on one specific problem along this line: To introduce a concept of…