Quantum Immortality and Non-Classical Logic

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2007.09847v4
• Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2022 03:12:59 GMT
• Title: Quantum Immortality and Non-Classical Logic
• Authors: Phillip L. Wilson
• Abstract summary: The Everett Box is a device in which an observer and a lethal quantum apparatus are isolated from the rest of the universe. We show that although the standard Everett argument rejecting non-MWI interpretations is no longer valid, we can show that Everett's conclusion still holds within a computable universe.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: The Everett Box is a device in which an observer and a lethal quantum apparatus are isolated from the rest of the universe. On a regular basis, successive trials occur, in each of which an automatic measurement of a quantum superposition inside the apparatus either causes instant death or does nothing to the observer. From the observer's perspective, the chances of surviving $m$ trials monotonically decreases with increasing $m$. As a result, if the observer is still alive for sufficiently large $m$ she must reject any interpretation of quantum mechanics which is not the many-worlds interpretation (MWI), since surviving $m$ trials becomes vanishingly unlikely in a single world, whereas a version of the observer will necessarily survive in the branching MWI universe. Here we ask whether this conclusion still holds if rather than a classical understanding of limits built on classical logic we instead require our physics to satisfy a computability requirement by investigating the Everett Box in a model of a computational universe running on a variety of constructive logic, Recursive Constructive Mathematics. We show that although the standard Everett argument rejecting non-MWI interpretations is no longer valid, we can show that Everett's conclusion still holds within a computable universe. Thus we argue that Everett's argument is strengthened and any counter-argument must be strengthened, since it holds not only in classical logic (with embedded notions of continuity and infinity) but also in a computable logic.

Related papers

• Typical Quantum States of the Universe are Observationally Indistinguishable [0.0]
  We show that, if the universal quantum state can be assumed to be a typical unit vector from a high-dimensional subspace of Hilbert space, no observation can determine which vector it is. Our argument is based on a typicality from quantum statistical mechanics.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-10-22T09:59:57Z)
• Against (unitary) interpretation (of quantum mechanics): removing the metaphysical load [0.0]
  We show that "unitary quantum mechanics", which according to its followers leads to some interesting paradoxes, is an interpretation of quantum mechanics. The root of "unitary" vs. operational discrepancy is that the latter treats the measurement process as irreversible.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2024-09-25T16:19:44Z)
• Bertlmann's socks from a Viennese perspective [0.0]
  A century after its inception, we are presented with a promising interpretive key, intimated by Wheeler as early as 1974. The interpretative paradoxes of this theory might be resolved if we discern the relationship between logical undecidability and quantum undecidability. It will be demonstrated how both are intricately linked to an observer/observed relational issue, and how the idiosyncratic behaviours of quantum physics can be reconciled with the normative.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-08-07T06:49:19Z)
• Logic meets Wigner's Friend (and their Friends) [49.1574468325115]
  We take a fresh look at Wigner's Friend thought-experiment and some of its more recent variants and extensions. We discuss various solutions proposed in the literature, focusing on a few questions.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2023-07-04T13:31:56Z)
• Schr\"odinger cat states of a 16-microgram mechanical oscillator [54.35850218188371]
  The superposition principle is one of the most fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. Here we demonstrate the preparation of a mechanical resonator with an effective mass of 16.2 micrograms in Schr"odinger cat states of motion. We show control over the size and phase of the superposition and investigate the decoherence dynamics of these states.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-11-01T13:29:44Z)
• Inevitability of knowing less than nothing [5.767156832161818]
  In the classical world, entropy and conditional entropy take only non-negative values. We introduce a physically motivated framework for defining quantum conditional entropy.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2022-08-30T17:44:17Z)
• Interlinking and the Emergence of Classical Physics in Quantum Theory [0.0]
  We argue that all macroscopic objects in the universe are connected through links of mutual entanglement. The measurement occurs when the degree we measure becomes entangled with any macroscopic object, and hence interlinked with all of them.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-12-13T21:57:36Z)
• Consistency in the description of quantum measurement: Quantum theory can consistently describe the use of itself [8.122270502556372]
  I propose a slight addition to standard textbook quantum mechanics, in the form of two rules, which avoids the paradox. The first specifies when a given quantum dynamics can be interpreted as a measurement. The second requires that a joint context be used to determine whether several different dynamical evolutions can all be interpreted as measurement.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-07-05T18:00:15Z)
• Testing quantum theory with thought experiments [4.847980206213335]
  How should one model systems that include agents who are themselves using quantum theory? We give a state-of-the-art overview on quantum thought experiments involving observers.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-06-09T18:08:23Z)
• Observers of quantum systems cannot agree to disagree [55.41644538483948]
  We ask whether agreement between observers can serve as a physical principle that must hold for any theory of the world. We construct examples of (postquantum) no-signaling boxes where observers can agree to disagree.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2021-02-17T19:00:04Z)
• A strong no-go theorem on the Wigner's friend paradox [0.0]
  We prove that if quantum evolution is controllable on the scale of an observer, then one of 'No-Superdeterminism', 'Locality' or 'Absoluteness of Observed Events' must be false. We show that although the violation of Bell-type inequalities in such scenarios is not in general sufficient to demonstrate the contradiction between those three assumptions, new inequalities can be derived in a theory-independent manner.
  arXiv  Detail & Related papers  (2019-07-12T08:09:44Z)

This list is automatically generated from the titles and abstracts of the papers in this site.

This site does not guarantee the quality of this site (including all information) and is not responsible for any consequences.