dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaDoes the universe in fact contain almost no information?
| Authors | Max Tegmark |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/9603008 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9603008 |
| DOI | 10.1007/BF02186207 |
| Journal | Found. Phys. Lett, 9, 25-42 (1996) |
Abstract
At first sight, an accurate description of the state of the universe appears to require a mind-bogglingly large and perhaps even infinite amount of information, even if we restrict our attention to a small subsystem such as a rabbit. In this paper, it is suggested that most of this information is merely apparent, as seen from our subjective viewpoints, and that the algorithmic information content of the universe as a whole is close to zero. It is argued that if the Schr\"odinger equation is universally valid, then decoherence together with the standard chaotic behavior of certain non-linear systems will make the universe appear extremely complex to any self-aware subsets that happen to inhabit it now, even if it was in a quite simple state shortly after the big bang. For instance, gravitational instability would amplify the microscopic primordial density fluctuations that are required by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle into quite macroscopic inhomogeneities, forcing the current wavefunction of the universe to contain such Byzantine superpositions as our planet being in many macroscopically different places at once. Since decoherence bars us from experiencing more than one macroscopic reality, we would see seemingly complex constellations of stars etc, even if the initial wavefunction of the universe was perfectly homogeneous and isotropic.
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"abstract": "At first sight, an accurate description of the state of the universe appears\nto require a mind-bogglingly large and perhaps even infinite amount of\ninformation, even if we restrict our attention to a small subsystem such as a\nrabbit. In this paper, it is suggested that most of this information is merely\napparent, as seen from our subjective viewpoints, and that the algorithmic\ninformation content of the universe as a whole is close to zero. It is argued\nthat if the Schr\\\"odinger equation is universally valid, then decoherence\ntogether with the standard chaotic behavior of certain non-linear systems will\nmake the universe appear extremely complex to any self-aware subsets that\nhappen to inhabit it now, even if it was in a quite simple state shortly after\nthe big bang. For instance, gravitational instability would amplify the\nmicroscopic primordial density fluctuations that are required by the Heisenberg\nuncertainty principle into quite macroscopic inhomogeneities, forcing the\ncurrent wavefunction of the universe to contain such Byzantine superpositions\nas our planet being in many macroscopically different places at once. Since\ndecoherence bars us from experiencing more than one macroscopic reality, we\nwould see seemingly complex constellations of stars etc, even if the initial\nwavefunction of the universe was perfectly homogeneous and isotropic.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/9603008",
"authors": [
"Max Tegmark"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1007/BF02186207",
"journal_ref": "Found. Phys. Lett, 9, 25-42 (1996)",
"title": "Does the universe in fact contain almost no information?",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9603008"
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