I have never been able to understand how a singularity can be highly
ordered. Is there any room for order in such a tiny thing?
Best
On May 31, 1:51 pm, Russell Standish <l....domain.name.hidden> wrote:
> I came across a reference to Boltzmann brains in a recent issue of New
> Scientist. The piece, quoted in full is:
>
> Spikes in space-time
>
> There is another way to think about why our universe began in a highly
> ordered or "low entropy" state. In 2002, a group of physicists led by
> Leonard Susskind at Stanford University in California proposed that
> entities capable of observing the universe could arise via random
> thermal fluctuations, as opposed to the big bang, galaxy formation and
> evolution. This idea has been explored by others, including Don Page
> at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Some researchers
> argue that under certain conditions, self-aware entities in the form
> of disembodied spikes in space-time - "Boltzmann brains" - are more
> likely to emerge than complex life forms. Because they depend on
> fluctuations of particles, Boltzmann brains would be more common in
> regions of high entropy than low entropy. If the universe had started
> out in a state of high entropy, it would be more likely to be
> populated by Boltzmann brains than life forms like us, which suggests
> that the entropy of our early universe had to be low. As a low-entropy
> initial state is unlikely, though, this also implies that there are a
> huge number of other universes out there that are unsuitable for us.
>
> It seemed to me that a Boltzmann brain was none other than one of our
> white rabbits, or at least very closely related. Any thoughts?
>
> --
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> A/Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile)
> Mathematics
> UNSW SYDNEY 2052 hpco....domain.name.hidden
> Australia http://www.hpcoders.com.au
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Received on Sat Jul 07 2007 - 10:57:15 PDT