Questions on the Many Worlds Interpretation

[rrw4rusty]

Hi!

 

In my plodding efforts to understand some of the weirder aspects of quantum physics there are two questions I’ve been researching that I am not locating answers for… or, lol, perhaps I’m not recognizing the answers. Hopefully someone can help.

 

I've seen videos depicting the ‘Many Worlds Interpretation’ of quantum physics which show T-Rex stomping through your living room because the K2 Event didn’t take place in that parallel universe, you know the hype you see on the MWI. While probably, no one ‘really’ thinks this is what’s happening, the interpretation somehow assumes other universes are right here with us and in our space that we cannot see or interact with.

 

1. Concerning MWI, does the interpretation explain ‘why’ we cannot see these other universes? I mean there must be otherwise we’d see them. Perhaps separate timelines? If the atoms of these parallel universes are right here with us… there must be something different with the atoms or particles which ‘hide’ them from us.

 

2. Finally, again concerning the MWI, when these parallel universes split off (when the particles or waves split off on all these different probability waves) does the MWI indicate what these parallel universes are suppose to be made of? Newly created atoms, some kind of shadows of our (the original) atoms or particles or, the same atoms some how in another timeline???

 

I hope these questions make sense?

 

Thanks any help you can give me,

Rusty

Edited December 1, 2009 by rrw4rusty

[swansont]

They are not parallel universes, they are orthogonal ones. IOW, you can't get there from here.

 

As far as conservation of energy goes

 

Conservation of energy is not violated since the energy of each branch has to be weighted by its probability, according to the standard formula for the conservation of energy in quantum theory. This results in the total energy of the multiverse being conserved.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation#Common_objections_and_misconceptions

[rrw4rusty]

They are not parallel universes, they are orthogonal ones. IOW, you can't get there from here.

 

As far as conservation of energy goes

 

Conservation of energy is not violated since the energy of each branch has to be weighted by its probability, according to the standard formula for the conservation of energy in quantum theory. This results in the total energy of the multiverse being conserved.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation#Common_objections_and_misconceptions

 

Thank you swansont. So the key is to first question is to look up orthogonal universes and the answer to the second question is that atoms flit (or flutter or zip) between all the universes.

 

r

[Tyler Durden]

When I think of the "many worlds interpretation", I consider a multiverse, consisting of the same atoms and sub-atomic particles that make up this universe. The atoms are like a hologram. They are never in our universe at all times, they sort of "flicker", and everytime they "disappear", they would teleport to one of these other universes within the multiverse. This would mean that at the fundamental level of matter, there is no concrete solidity, and furthermore, it could suggest that, assuming that there are higher dimensions within our own universe that we can't see, that something is going on within these dimensions, and travel is impossible from the world we perceive and these other dimensions. Perhaps a T-Rex could be standing right next to you and you don't even know it, and you can pass right through it.

 

Then we start going into the deep end of the pool...

[rrw4rusty]

When I think of the "many worlds interpretation", I consider a multiverse, consisting of the same atoms and sub-atomic particles that make up this universe. The atoms are like a hologram. They are never in our universe at all times, they sort of "flicker", and everytime they "disappear", they would teleport to one of these other universes within the multiverse. This would mean that at the fundamental level of matter, there is no concrete solidity, and furthermore, it could suggest that, assuming that there are higher dimensions within our own universe that we can't see, that something is going on within these dimensions, and travel is impossible from the world we perceive and these other dimensions. Perhaps a T-Rex could be standing right next to you and you don't even know it, and you can pass right through it.

 

Then we start going into the deep end of the pool...

 

And we're not already at 'the deep end of the pool', lol??

 

I wonder if you are using the word dimensions loosely. The so called 4 dimensions--up/down, side to side, forward/back, and time--are all the 'dimentions' we have within the realm or the standard model and the 'Many Worlds' interpretation is definitely a part of the standard model.

 

Higher dimensions and/or dimensionsdimensions beyond the four 'standard' ones are, to my knowledge, aspects of string, superstring, and M-Theory (and perhaps other non-standard model theories like LQG).

 

Cheers,

Rusty

[ranjan_adarsh]

my idea of MWI is relatively a simple and maybe a little interesting.....

 

We live in a four dimensional world, now think that if any of these dimension gets altered can you see the people living in those four dimensions:-NO

 

As we know we have to have a proper length, proper breadth and width or time, if any of these gets altered by diminishing or changing co-ordinates, we are not longer existing in our world, Now consider hwo many possible universes can possibly exist,

 

Now one more point:- Every such universes will again have their four unique dimesnions which alternately leads to again further possibility, This makes our many world interpretation quite understandable..........