On Thu, Feb 20, 2025 at 6:17 PM Quentin Anciaux <[email protected]> wrote:
> Le jeu. 20 févr. 2025, 07:55, Brent Meeker <[email protected]> a > écrit : > >> What does it mean to have more than one observer in a branch? A branch >> forms because the result is orthogonal to the other different results. Of >> course any number of persons can observe it, which by construction means >> they are in that branch. Is that what you mean? >> >> Brent >> > > Brent, > > A branch isn't a single discrete entity—it's a region in the wavefunction > where decoherence prevents interference. The distinction matters because if > the wavefunction remains a superposition of infinite components, then what > we call a "branch" is just an approximate partition, not a fundamental unit. > > Saying "one observer per branch" assumes a sharp branching structure, but > if the wavefunction maintains an underlying continuous structure, then what > we experience as "branches" are really clusters of high-measure observer > instances. More than one observer in a branch means that, within that > region of the wavefunction, there are exponentially more instances of an > observer experiencing a high-amplitude outcome than a low-amplitude one. > > In other words, observer count isn't tied to branch count—it's tied to > measure. What matters isn’t how many "branches" exist but how many copies > of an observer exist in each, which is why most observers see outcomes > aligning with the Born rule. > I can see at least a couple of problems with this. In the first instance, a 'branch' encompasses the whole world, so if you want more than one person on each branch, you have the entire population of the world on each branch. Unfortunately, the same population can be found on every branch, so that does not give you the necessary partitioning according to branch weight. That is the second main issue with this idea: there is no mechanism for assigning extra observers to branches according to branch weights (or the amplitude squared, which is just the Born probability). It is all just a romantic pipe dream with no basis in mathematics, physics, or reality. 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAFxXSLQbQtG0nWiUhk6fhnk6cRM%2BJ6eqNbOsfoYn88rncF2HXQ%40mail.gmail.com.
