PIRSA:21060098

The emergence of quantum mechanics and space, from a fundamental, active time

Smolin, L. (2021). The emergence of quantum mechanics and space, from a fundamental, active time. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/21060098

Smolin, Lee. The emergence of quantum mechanics and space, from a fundamental, active time. Perimeter Institute, Jun. 15, 2021, https://pirsa.org/21060098 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:21060098,
            doi = {10.48660/21060098},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/21060098},
            author = {Smolin, Lee},
            keywords = {Quantum Foundations},
            language = {en},
            title = {The emergence of quantum mechanics and space, from a fundamental, active time},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2021},
            month = {jun},
            note = {PIRSA:21060098 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

Lee Smolin

Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Talk number
PIRSA:21060098
Collection
Talk Type
Subject
Abstract
"We propose a realist completion of quantum mechanics, in the sense of a complete description of individual events. The proposed fundamental theory assumes that time, events, causal structure, momentum and energy are fundamental. But space and the wave function are emergent. The beables of the theory are the views of the events, which are a subset of their causal pasts. Thus, this theory asserts that the universe is a causal network of events, which consists of partial views of itself as seen by looking backwards from each event. The theory is based on a simple action principle, which extremizes the variety of the universe, which is a measure of the diversity of its partial views. The Schroedinger equation is derived, while to higher order, there are computable corrections, non-linear in the wave function, from which new physical effects may be predicted. Finally, a relativistic version is sketched, in wqhich the views are built on the celestial sphere. "