The World and the Observer

Hitoshi Inamori

This paper defines what constitutes the Observed World in the Quantum Mechanical framework, based strictly on what is actually observed beyond doubt, instead of building observables on what is inferred from actual observations. Such principle narrows down considerably what can be considered as being part of the Observed World. On the other hand, we argue that some information - that is in general assumed as granted - should actually be considered as being part of the Observed World. We discuss the implications of such assertion, in the way we perceive time evolution, information growth and causality.

George Jaroszkiewicz

James P. Kowall

The measurement problem of quantum theory remains unresolved in terms of how the quantum state of the physical world can be reduced to an observed state of the world. In the conventional formulation of quantum theory, the quantum state of the physical world is understood as an unobserved state of potentiality or a quantum wavefunction that must collapse into an observed state of actuality for the physical world to actually be observed. The unresolved issue of the quantum measurement problem is about the true nature of the observer. This question about the true nature of the observer explodes when we understand the quantum state of the physical world in terms of the holographic principle of quantum gravity, which tells us the fundamental nature of the physical world is quantized bits of information, called qubits, encoded on a holographic screen. The holographic screen in turn can be understood as an event horizon that arises in an observer's accelerated frame of reference. This way of understanding the holographic principle can be understood in terms of matrix models that utilize non-commutative geometry. The holographic principle understood in the context of an observer in an accelerated frame of reference has something important to tell us about the true nature of the observer, which is that every observer is at the center of its own holographic screen that defines its own observable holographic world.

Robin D Hanson

In Everett's many-worlds interpretation, where quantum measurements are seen as decoherence events, inexact decoherence may let large worlds mangle the memories of observers in small worlds, creating a cutoff in observable world measure. I solve a growth–drift–diffusion–absorption model of such a mangled worlds scenario, and show that it reproduces the Born probability rule closely, though not exactly. Thus, inexact decoherence may allow the Born rule to be derived in a many-worlds approach via world counting, using a finite number of worlds and no new fundamental physics.