Griffith U: Many Interacting Worlds theory

[MargaritaMc]

Griffith University:Griffith scientists propose existence and interaction of parallel worlds
Griffith University academics are challenging the foundations of quantum science with a radical new theory based on the existence of, and interactions between, parallel universes.

In a paper published in the prestigious journal Physical Review X, Professor Howard Wiseman and Dr Michael Hall from Griffith's Centre for Quantum Dynamics, and Dr Dirk-Andre Deckert from the University of California, take interacting parallel worlds out of the realm of science fiction and into that of hard science.

The team proposes that parallel universes really exist, and that they interact. That is, rather than evolving independently, nearby worlds influence one another by a subtle force of repulsion. They show that such an interaction could explain everything that is bizarre about quantum mechanics. ...

Physical Review X:Quantum Phenomena Modeled by Interactions between Many Classical Worlds
Phys. Rev. X 4, 041013 – Published 23 October 2014
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.4.041013

Michael J. W. Hall, Dirk-André Deckert, and Howard M. Wiseman

ABSTRACT
We investigate whether quantum theory can be understood as the continuum limit of a mechanical theory, in which there is a huge, but finite, number of classical “worlds,” and quantum effects arise solely from a universal interaction between these worlds, without reference to any wave function. Here, a “world” means an entire universe with well-defined properties, determined by the classical configuration of its particles and fields. ...


POPULAR SUMMARY

Quantum mechanics provides our most fundamental description of nature, but there is a long-standing and passionate debate among physicists about what all the math “really” means. We provide an answer based on a very simple picture: The world we experience is just one of an enormous number of essentially classical worlds, and all quantum phenomena arise from a universal force of repulsion that prevents worlds from having identical physical configurations. Probabilities arise only because of our ignorance as to which world an observer occupies. This picture is all that is needed to explain bizarre quantum effects such as particles that tunnel through solid barriers and wave behavior in double-slit experiments.

Our “many-interacting-worlds” approach hinges on the assumption that interactions between deterministically evolving worlds cause all quantum effects. Each world is simply the position of particles in three-dimensional space, and each would evolve according to Newton’s laws if there were no interworld interactions. A surprising feature of our approach is that the formulation contains nothing that corresponds to the mysterious quantum wave function, except in the formal mathematical limit in which the number of worlds becomes infinitely large. Conversely, Newtonian mechanics corresponds to the opposite limit of just one world. Thus, our approach incorporates both classical and quantum theory. We perform numerical simulations and show that our approach can reproduce interference with a double slit. As few as two interacting worlds can result in quantumlike effects, such as tunneling through a barrier.
...
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

The article is available for free download.

Margarita

[geckzilla]

Are these many-worlds theories ever going anywhere? It seems like one could assign infinite, invisible gremlins to affect quantum particles just as easily.

[rstevenson]

Are these many-worlds theories ever going anywhere? It seems like one could assign infinite, invisible gremlins to affect quantum particles just as easily.

Only if you had a good idea of the values assigned to various properties and behaviours of gremlins, and math describing how gremlins behave.

Rob

[geckzilla]

The infinite gremlins have an infinite number of configurations. Some of them behave in very familiar ways while others are completely mysterious.

[Ann]

If these putative other universes are forever beyond our reach, isn't the question of how they may affect us a philosophical rather than a scientific problem?

Ann

[BMAONE23]

Must be the Unithane

Unithane: Methane produced by flying invisible pink Unicorns

[MargaritaMc]

If these putative other universes are forever beyond our reach, isn't the question of how they may affect us a philosophical rather than a scientific problem?

Ann

from the news release on Eureka
Dr Hall says the "Many-Interacting Worlds" theory may even create the extraordinary possibility of testing for the existence of other worlds.

M

[geckzilla]

Yeah, the layering of possibility descriptors exudes confidence.

I'm being mean. It's interesting but I'm certainly not holding my breath on any many worlds theories. It does amuse me when someone is unable to properly assign a degree of probability to something, though. It tends to come out like "This certainly might possibly happen."

[Nitpicker]

According to Wikipedia, in order to get published in Physical Review X, a $1500 "article-processing charge" is applicable to authors or their institutions, to support global free access to the journal. I've no idea how common such a fee is, but at first glance, it doesn't sound very healthy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Review_X

[MargaritaMc]

According to Wikipedia, in order to get published in Physical Review X, a $1500 "article-processing charge" is applicable to authors or their institutions, to support global free access to the journal. I've no idea how common such a fee is, but at first glance, it doesn't sound very healthy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Review_X

It's increasingly common. Here is the Wikipedia info and discussion on open access. And here is something from one publisher of both standard and free-access scientific journals.

http://www.elsevier.com/about/open-acce ... s-journals
Open access journals

All articles published in Elsevier open access journals are peer reviewed and upon acceptance will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download. Permitted reuse is defined by your choice of user license.
...
Open access publication fee

In open access journals a fee is payable by the author, institution or research funder to cover the costs associated with publication. Fees range from $500-$5000USD. Visit the individual journal homepages for specific pricing information for your journal.

Funding body agreements

Elsevier has established agreements with funding bodies, including the Wellcome Trust and Research Councils UK. This ensures authors can comply with funding body open access policies and may also be reimbursed for their publication fees.

The publisher Springer also gives details of its open access journals here

[Markus Schwarz]

For more discussion, you can also visit the blog by Peter Woit.