In Tegmark's experiment you would know if you had a quantum machine
gun firing at you - because you would be damaged by it, and would feel
the bullets, although not killed by it. The would also be other human
beings looking on who would know that there was a machine gun, and
congratulate you on your miraculous ability to survive.
In the case of vacuum decays, surely these would have some kind of
distribution of energies, and some of the lower valued decays (say of
the order of the KT event, or even more wimpish at about the level of
a Nuclear Amageddon) would tend to be noticed by the surviving
concious observers.
Unless the distribution is vanishingly small at these lower energies,
observational experience would rule out events of this nature.
Cheers
Forwarded message:
> From james.higgo.domain.name.hidden Wed Dec 9 21:05 EST 1998
> Message-Id: <C161B7880426D21198E30020484031ED1B8A57.domain.name.hidden>
> From: Higgo James <james.higgo.domain.name.hidden>
> To: "'Russell Standish'" <R.Standish.domain.name.hidden>
> Cc: "'everything-list.domain.name.hidden'" <everything-list.domain.name.hidden.com>
> Subject: RE: experiments and MWI (fwd)
> Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 09:55:32 -0000
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2232.9)
> Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
> Content-Length: 6017
>
> Precisely - now substitute 'vacuum decay' for 'machine gun' in Max Tegmark's
> quantum suicide experiment, and you see that it would not matter if we were
> in suce a region.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Russell Standish [SMTP:R.Standish.domain.name.hidden]
> > Sent: 08 December 1998 21:50
> > To: everything-list.domain.name.hidden
> > Subject: RE: experiments and MWI (fwd)
> >
> > These vacuum decays must involve energies that make it negligibly
> > possible for any human observers (out of 5x10^10) to survive -
> > otherwise they would have been observed already. That's one hell of a
> > bang - makes the KT event look like an afternoon tea party.
> >
> > I suspect the anthropic principle keeps us out of such region of the
> > universe, in which case we're unlikely to see the SM parameters having
> > those values.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> >
> > Forwarded message:
> > > From everything-list-request.domain.name.hidden Wed Dec 9 00:11 EST 1998
> > > Resent-Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1998 04:57:11 -0800
> > > Message-Id: <C161B7880426D21198E30020484031ED1B8A44.domain.name.hidden>
> > > From: Higgo James <james.higgo.domain.name.hidden>
> > > To: "'Rainer Plaga'" <plaga.domain.name.hidden>
> > > Cc: "'avoid-l.domain.name.hidden'" <avoid-l.domain.name.hidden.edu>,
> > > "'everything-list.domain.name.hidden'" <everything-list.domain.name.hidden.com>
> > > Subject: RE: experiments and MWI
> > > Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1998 12:55:29 -0000
> > > MIME-Version: 1.0
> > > X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2232.9)
> > > Resent-Message-ID: <"I9yFK2.0.Lj2.c8IRs".domain.name.hidden>
> > > Resent-From: everything-list.domain.name.hidden
> > > X-Mailing-List: <everything-list.domain.name.hidden> archive/latest/176
> > > X-Loop: everything-list.domain.name.hidden
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> > > Content-Type: text/plain
> > > Content-Length: 3414
> > >
> > > Hi, Rainer.
> > >
> > > I am pleased to be in a universe in which your plane did not crash.
> > >
> > > On your first point, thanks - agreed. Also, Vic seems to imply that
> > there
> > > are two types of system - quantum and non-quantum. A 'quantum effect'
> > can
> > > make a difference to a hot, wet classical system. I have cc'd this to
> > Vic
> > > Stenger's list.
> > >
> > > On point 2, I have to concede that you are right, and we must hope that
> > an
> > > experiment such as the one you proposed could be undertaken to prove the
> > > valifity of MWI. That doesn't mean that the exploration of the
> > consequences
> > > of MWI is not a useful pursuit here and now.
> > >
> > > On point 3, my quantum theory of immortality would make vacuum decays,
> > no
> > > matter how common, imperceptible to us as we continue in those universes
> > in
> > > which there has been no decay. This is an interesting avenue to pursue.
> > >
> > > James
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Rainer Plaga [SMTP:plaga.domain.name.hidden]
> > > > Sent: 08 December 1998 12:29
> > > > To: james.higgo.domain.name.hidden
> > > > Subject: experiments and MWI
> > > >
> > > > Hello James,
> > > >
> > > > 1.
> > > > Vic's criticism seems justified in the
> > > > sense that you didn't prove immortality,
> > > > only extreme longevity seems very plausible.
> > > > On the other hand I do not understand his
> > > > point about mixtures. There are no
> > > > ``true mixtures'' in the MWI, only one
> > > > pure state of which we perceive a very small
> > > > part. So he seems to be outside
> > > > strict MWI with his argument.
> > > >
> > > > 2.
> > > > I thought about your point that
> > > > you don't need experimental evidence
> > > > in favor of MWI, that it's (undisputed) elegance
> > > > is sufficient.
> > > >
> > > > In the end I find this point of view
> > > > (which seems close to the one of Max)
> > > > sterile, it can hamper progress.
> > > >
> > > > Imagine people would have been content
> > > > in 1890 with the ``elegance'' of Boltzmann's
> > > > indirect thermodynamical evidence in favour
> > > > of atoms.
> > > > The wish to find direct evidence
> > > > in favor of single atoms was an important
> > > > driving force in the early days of quantum physics.
> > > >
> > > > In other words: I'm convinced that direct
> > > > evidence for MWI will lead to a qualitatively new
> > > > understanding of the quantum world.
> > > > I doubt that purely theoretical or philosophical
> > > > work on the MWI will ever lead to this, the
> > > > problems are too complicated.
> > > >
> > > > 3.
> > > > Counterexample to a theorem ``direct experimental evidence
> > > > against alternatives to the MWI'' can't be found
> > > > (like one Max seems to have in mind: ``Copenhagen
> > > > always leads to the same phenomenology'').
> > > >
> > > > There exist parameter regions in the Standard Model
> > > > of particle physics
> > > > where the vacuum is metastable. Single
> > > > quantum events, which raise the energy density
> > > > (e.g. particle collisions) then lead
> > > > to the decay of our vacuum to a more
> > > > stable form: this would kill humanity.
> > > >
> > > > Normally this is taken as evidence that
> > > > the SM does not have such parameters.
> > > > In the MWI this argument does not hold
> > > > of course. Each vacuum decay
> > > > has only a certain probability, so there
> > > > are always surviving humanities.
> > > > (This is very close to my ``atom bomb''
> > > > alteration of Max's suicide test of MWI).
> > > > In other words: if future research on the SM
> > > > would prove that the parameters are such
> > > > that the vacuum is metastable, this would
> > > > be direct (and non byzantine or
> > > > macabre) evidence for the MWI.
> > > >
> > > > Of course it might well be that such paramters are not found,
> > > > however any general theorem about the untestability of MWI
> > > > is doubtful.
> > > >
> > > > All the best Rainer
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --
> > Dr. Russell Standish Director
> > High Performance Computing Support Unit,
> > University of NSW Phone 9385 6967
> > Sydney 2052 Fax 9385 7123
> > Australia R.Standish.domain.name.hidden
> > Room 2075, Red Centre http://parallel.hpc.unsw.edu.au/rks
> > --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > --
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Standish Director
High Performance Computing Support Unit,
University of NSW Phone 9385 6967
Sydney 2052 Fax 9385 7123
Australia R.Standish.domain.name.hidden
Room 2075, Red Centre
http://parallel.hpc.unsw.edu.au/rks
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Received on Wed Dec 09 1998 - 13:35:49 PST