PIRSA:13050072

Time, cosmology and quantum foundations

Smolin, L. (2013). Time, cosmology and quantum foundations. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/13050072

Smolin, Lee. Time, cosmology and quantum foundations. Perimeter Institute, May. 31, 2013, https://pirsa.org/13050072 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:13050072,
            doi = {10.48660/13050072},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/13050072},
            author = {Smolin, Lee},
            keywords = {Quantum Foundations, Cosmology},
            language = {en},
            title = {Time, cosmology and quantum foundations},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2013},
            month = {may},
            note = {PIRSA:13050072 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

Lee Smolin Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Talk numberPIRSA:13050072
DOI10.48660/13050072
Collection
Talk Type Conference
Subject

Abstract

I argue that quantum mechanics cannot usefully  be extended to a theory of the whole universe, so the task of quantum foundations is to discover that cosmological theory which reduces to quantum mechanics when restricted to small subsystems of the universe.  I argue that that cosmological theory will be based on a global notion of physical time which implies the distinction between past, present and future is real and objective.  These motivate two examples of novel formulations of quantum theory: the real ensemble formulation and the principle of precedence.  Each may imply departures from the expected quantum evolution for sufficiently large and complex quantum systems.