3 ms·

It ought not to click, because it's a deep objection. In the ball example, the wavefunction is a sum of two components: there are two possible measurement outco

It ought not to click, because it's a deep objection. In the ball example, the wavefunction is a sum of two components: there are two possible measurement outcomes. How do you get three worlds from two states? Say you have an electron which is either up or down, a 2/3 percent chance to be up. The wavefunction looks like `2/3 * up + 1/3 * down`. In the MWI picture, when you measure the electron, you split into two worlds: how do you get 2/3 probability of "up" from two worlds? You can say you split into three worlds, two of them identical. But that is not found in the Schrödinger equation (so now you have new postulates, which MWI hoped to avoid), and what if the probability were 1/pi, how many worlds would that be?

jsmith45 6y ago
Your problem is in assuming that there is a finite number of universes created. Instead Think in terms of an infinite number of universes created, of which 2/3 of them are red, and 1/3 of them are blue. (E.g. Imagine all the universes created map to the range 0 to 1, and the first 2/3's come up red, and the last blue (or reverse that, or shuffle it up). The mapping onto 0 to 1 is merely for visualization purposes, and is thus arbitrary.)
- millstone 6y ago
  The hope and appeal of MWI is that the Schrödinger equation is sufficient. What you describe is way beyond what may be found in it. "Many worlds" may arise naturally from the Schrödinger equation in this way: if you measure a system, the components of its wavefunction decohere, so that they no longer interfere. These components may be intuitively understood as "worlds." We find ourselves in the world corresponding to the larger-measure component more often. But why? If your answer is "because more universes were created for larger measures," that is not found in the Schrödinger equation; it requires additional axioms, which is precisely what MWI hopes to avoid.

jsmith45 6y ago

Your problem is in assuming that there is a finite number of universes created. Instead Think in terms of an infinite number of universes created, of which 2/3 of them are red, and 1/3 of them are blue. (E.g. Imagine all the universes created map to the range 0 to 1, and the first 2/3's come up red, and the last blue (or reverse that, or shuffle it up). The mapping onto 0 to 1 is merely for visualization purposes, and is thus arbitrary.)

millstone 6y ago
The hope and appeal of MWI is that the Schrödinger equation is sufficient. What you describe is way beyond what may be found in it. "Many worlds" may arise naturally from the Schrödinger equation in this way: if you measure a system, the components of its wavefunction decohere, so that they no longer interfere. These components may be intuitively understood as "worlds." We find ourselves in the world corresponding to the larger-measure component more often. But why? If your answer is "because more universes were created for larger measures," that is not found in the Schrödinger equation; it requires additional axioms, which is precisely what MWI hopes to avoid.