Science in a Very Large Universe

Abstract

As observers of the universe we are quantum physical systems within it. If the universe is very large in space and/or time, the probability becomes significant that the data on which we base predictions is replicated at other locations in spacetime. The physical conditions at these locations that are not specified by the data may differ. Predictions of our future observations therefore require an assumed probability distribution (the xerographic distribution) for our location among the possible ones. It is the combination of basic theory plus the xerographic distribution that can be predictive and testable by further observations.

14 pages, revised and expanded in v2, correction to App. A (suggested by D. Page) in v3

References in corpus (15)

• Can the universe afford inflation?
• The Classical Universes of the No-Boundary Quantum State
• The No-Boundary Measure of the Universe
• Properties of the scale factor measure
• Are We Typical?
• Boltzmann babies in the proper time measure
• Prediction and explanation in the multiverse
• Schwinger Pair Production in dS_2 and AdS_2
• The quasiclassical realms of this quantum universe
• The Born Rule Dies
• Is Our Universe Decaying at an Astronomical Rate?
• Cosmological Measures without Volume Weighting
• Boltzmann Brains--I'd Rather See Than Be One
• Replication Regulates Volume Weighting in Quantum Cosmology
• Insufficiency of the Quantum State for Deducing Observational Probabilities

Cited by in corpus (25)

• Self-Locating Uncertainty and the Origin of Probability in Everettian Quantum Mechanics
• Born in an Infinite Universe: a Cosmological Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
• Local Observation in Eternal inflation
• Technically natural dark energy from Lorentz breaking
• The No-Boundary Measure in the Regime of Eternal Inflation
• The Born Rule Dies
• Origin of probabilities and their application to the multiverse
• The Self-Organized Critical Multiverse
• Prediction and typicality in multiverse cosmology
• Adaptive Coarse Graining, Environment, Strong Decoherence, and Quasiclassical Realms
• Anthropic Bounds on Lambda from the No-Boundary Quantum State
• A quantum measure of the multiverse
• Early-Time Measure in Eternal Inflation
• Many Worlds, the Born Rule, and Self-Locating Uncertainty
• Bayesian Reasoning in Eternal Inflation: A Solution to the Measure Problem
• Agnesi Weighting for the Measure Problem of Cosmology
• Testing typicality in multiverse cosmology
• Spacetime Average Density (SAD) Cosmological Measures
• Possible Anthropic Support for a Decaying Universe: A Cosmic Doomsday Argument
• The Noonday Argument: Fine-Graining, Indexicals, and the Nature of Copernican Reasoning
• Spectra of conditionalization and typicality in the multiverse
• Rescuing the Born Rule for Quantum Cosmology
• Resolving the observer reference class problem in cosmology
• The Doomsday Argument in Many Worlds
• The Observer Class Hypothesis