Published March 17, 2021
| Submitted
Discussion Paper
Open
Reality as a Vector in Hilbert Space
- Creators
-
Carroll, Sean M.
Abstract
I defend the extremist position that the fundamental ontology of the world consists of a vector in Hilbert space evolving according to the Schrödinger equation. The laws of physics are determined solely by the energy eigenspectrum of the Hamiltonian. The structure of our observed world, including space and fields living within it, should arise as a higher-level emergent description. I sketch how this might come about, although much work remains to be done.
Additional Information
Report number: CALT-TH-2021-010. It is a pleasure to thank Ashmeet Singh, Charles Cao, Spiros Mikhalakis, and Ning Bao for collaboration on some of the work described here. This research is funded in part by the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics at Caltech, by DOE grant DE-SC0011632, and by the Foundational Questions Institute.Attached Files
Submitted - 2103.09780.pdf
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2103.09780.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 108533
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20210323-141639318
- Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, Caltech
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- DE-SC0011632
- Foundational Questions Institute (FQXI)
- Created
-
2021-03-24Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2023-06-02Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics
- Other Numbering System Name
- CALT-TH
- Other Numbering System Identifier
- 2021-010