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arXiv:2505.22160 · Metaphysica

Eternalism and Everettian Quantum Mechanics

Matias Slavov

Published Jun 24, 2025• 0 citations
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Abstract

Abstract This paper shall explore the conjunction of eternalism and Everettian quantum mechanics. It shall be argued that there is a strong analogy between these two views. In case there is an indefinite number of worlds and observers that are all equally real, there should be an indefinite number of local times which are all also equally real. Whereas Everettianism, specifically the diverging version, treats actuality indexically, relativistic eternalism treats tense indexically. All times exist analogously to all isolated Everettian worlds. There is no unique ‘now’ that cuts throughout all that physically exists. Instead, as eternalism propounds, all times exist. The paper concludes that eternalism and the many-worlds interpretation are not only compatible but complement each other, providing a coherent framework for understanding the nature of temporal reality.

DOI
10.1515/mp-2024-0041

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Abstract This paper shall explore the conjunction of eternalism and Everettian quantum mechanics. It shall be argued that there is a strong analogy between these two views. In case there is an indefinite number of worlds and observers that are all equally real, there should be an indefinite number of local times which are all also equally real. Whereas Everettianism, specifically the diverging version, treats actuality indexically, relativistic eternalism treats tense indexically. All times exist analogously to all isolated Everettian worlds. There is no unique ‘now’ that cuts throughout all that physically exists. Instead, as eternalism propounds, all times exist. The paper concludes that eternalism and the many-worlds interpretation are not only compatible but complement each other, providing a coherent framework for understanding the nature of temporal reality.
Abstract This chapter sets out the version of quantum mechanics—diverging EQM—that constitutes the physics component of quantum modal realism. After a potted history of Everettian quantum mechanics, and an introduction to recent decoherence-based versions of the approach, I sketch a distinctive metaphysical understanding of Everettian quantum mechanics that involves diverging ‘parallel worlds’ instead of overlapping ‘splitting worlds’. I argue that the choice between divergence and overlap is underdetermined by the physics itself; I then adapt an argument of David Lewis’s that supports divergence over overlap, emphasizing the need to make room for objective probabilities in the Everettian picture. The chapter concludes by rejecting some unpersuasive motivations for overlap.
The question of whether Everettian quantum mechanics (EQM) justifies the existence of metaphysical indeterminacy has recently come to the fore. Metaphysical indeterminacy has been argued to emerge from three sources: coherent superpositions, the indefinite number of branches in the quantum multiverse and the nature of these branches. This paper reviews the evidence and concludes that those arguments don't rely on EQM alone and rest on metaphysical auxiliary assumptions that transcend the physics of EQM. We show how EQM can be ontologically interpreted without positing metaphysical indeterminacy by adopting a deflationary attitude towards branches. Two ways of developing the deflationary view are then proposed: one where branches are eliminated, and another where they are reduced to the universal quantum state.
This paper examines personal identity in the context of the Everett interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. According to Everett, the universe branches many – perhaps an infinite number of – times per second. This leads to a universe in which many versions of ‘you’ exist, many of whom are living different lives to yours. How are we to make sense of the continuation of the self in this context? This is of particular importance for Christian theism, which is committed to an enduring self that can be held responsible for past actions and can develop an ongoing relationship with God. The paper argues that the best way to understand identity in the Everettian world as fundamentally narrative in nature.
This paper raises a simple continuous spectrum issue in many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, or Everettian interpretation. I will assume that Everettian interpretation refers to many-worlds understanding based on quantum decoherence. The fact that some operators in quantum mechanics have continuous spectrum is used to propose a simple thought experiment based on probability theory. Then the paper concludes it is untenable to think of each possibility that wavefunction Ψ⟩\Psi \rangleΨ⟩ gives probability as actual universe. While the argument that continuous spectrum leads to inconsistency in the cardinality of universes can be made, this paper proposes a different argument not relating to theoretical math that actually has practical problems.
Do the worlds described by the Many Worlds Interpretation (MWI)—the most prominent Everettian interpretation of quantum mechanics—genuinely ‘branch’? According to the overlap view, the relationship between branching worlds is described in terms of mereological overlap: worlds share parts with one another through some temporal intervals. In recent years, an alternative known as the divergence view has gained prominence. The divergence view eschews ‘splitting’ and instead holds that Everettian worlds are mereologically disjoint parallel worlds whose histories diverge. I introduce a dilemma for the divergence view to demonstrate that it is metaphysically unsuitable for the MWI.
Abstract Our experience of the world is temporally asymmetric: coffee spontaneously cools, glasses smash, people age and die, while the reverse processes never occur. However, our best theories of fundamental physics are temporally symmetric, making no distinction between past and future directions. This creates a puzzle: how can our asymmetric experiences emerge from a symmetric foundation? The usual solution is to posit a special initial condition for the universe. This solution, however, amounts to putting in the asymmetry by hand, and one may be left looking for a further explanation of this asymmetric boundary condition. In this paper I explore another possible solution, namely that the asymmetry of experience can be explained anthropically, via an observer selection effect. In particular, I use the formalism of decoherent histories to argue that such an explanation is available in the Everettian, or “many worlds”, interpretation of quantum mechanics. Along the way, we will discover that Everettian quantum mechanics implies the existence of many more worlds than are traditionally recognised.