On Thu, May 12, 2022 at 9:08 AM smitra <smi...@zonnet.nl> wrote: > On 11-05-2022 08:14, Bruce Kellett wrote: > > On Wed, May 11, 2022 at 3:39 PM Brent Meeker <meekerbr...@gmail.com> > > wrote: > > > >> On 5/10/2022 9:43 PM, smitra wrote: > >> > >>> If there are only a finite number of states the entire universe can be > >>> in, then that's also true for observers. > >> > >> So what does the SE for this discrete universe look like? The one > >> every cites assumes a continuum. If the universe is finite then there's > >> smallest non-zero probability, which as Bruce says, raises some > >> problems. > > > > Not the least of these problems is the fact that a smallest non-zero > > probability makes the collapse real; destroys the ongoing > > superposition; renders everything absolutely irreversible; and screws > > the hell out of unitary evolution. > > > Counterexample: The internal state of an ideal quantum computer will > always evolve under unitary time evolution. >
If there is a smallest non-zero probability, this may no longer be the case. Actually, a smallest non-zero probability would certainly resolve a lot of the problems with many worlds theory. Unitarity would no longer work to all levels; pure states would automatically become mixtures under decoherence; reversibility would vanish; collapse would make sense, and the emergence of the classical world from the underlying quantum substrate would be explained. All this follows if there are no continuous quantities in physics, and continuous variables are just approximations to underlying discrete quantities...... Solves a lot of problems. I can see why Brent is attracted to this idea. Bruce -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAFxXSLQ1J0gJy2F1EVCZA8BuiO-2ae7RDc9xcVrWPCVWZ%3DYTpA%40mail.gmail.com.
