The Quantum Universe

Ebook

Essays on Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Cosmology, and Physics in General

As physics has progressed, its most fundamental theories have become more distant from everyday experience posing challenges for understanding, notably with quantum mechanics. This volume contains twenty-nine essays written to address such challenges. The essays address issues in quantum mechanics, quantum cosmology and physics in general. Examples include: How do we apply quantum mechanics to the whole universe when all observers are inside? What do we mean by past, present, and future in a four-dimensional universe? What is the origin of classical predictability in a quantum universe? Could physics predict non-computable numbers? Short personal recollections of Murray Gell-Mann and Stephen Hawking are included.The essays vary in length, style, and level but should be accessible to most physicists.
Contents:

• Computability and Physical Theories (R Geroch and J B Hartle)
• Excess Baggage (J B Hartle)
• Sources of Predictability (J B Hartle)
• Theories of Everything and Hawking's Wave Function of the Universe (J B Hartle)
• Scientific Knowledge from the Perspective of Quantum Cosmology (J B Hartle)
• The Physics of 'Now' (J B Hartle)
• The Quantum Mechanics of Closed Systems (J B Hartle)
• The Spacetime Approach to Quantum Mechanics (J B Hartle)
• Quantum Physics and Human Language (J B Hartle)
• Quantum Pasts and the Utility of History (J B Hartle)
• The Quasiclassical Realms of this Quantum Universe (J B Hartle)
• Living in a Superposition (J B Hartle)
• The Quantum Mechanical Arrows of Time (J B Hartle)
• Why Our Universe is Comprehensible (J B Hartle)
• Quantum Cosmology: Problems for the 21st Century (J B Hartle)
• Anthropic Reasoning and Quantum Cosmology (J B Hartle)
• Are We Typical? (J B Hartle and M Srednicki)
• Science in a Very Large Universe (M Srednicki and J B Hartle)
• The Observer Strikes Back (J B Hartle and T Hertog)
• Quantum Multiverses (J B Hartle)
• Quantum Mechanics at the Planck Scale (J B Hartle)
• The State of the Universe (J B Hartle)
• The Impact of Cosmology on Quantum Mechanics (J B Hartle)
• Murray Gell-Mann: A Short Appreciation (J B Hartle)
• Working with Stephen Hawking (J B Hartle)

Readership: Students, researchers and all interested in physics and cosmology.
Key Features:

• Addresses questions that arise naturally and frequently in physics and cosmology in a clear and concise manner