Could the Universe's Early State Be a Superposition of High and Low Entropy?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the concept of the universe's early state, specifically the "past hypothesis" which posits that the universe began in a low entropy state. A participant introduces an alternative view suggesting that the early universe could instead be a superposition of high and low entropy states, linking this idea to quantum many worlds and thermodynamic time. The scope includes theoretical implications and interpretations of entropy in cosmology.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Debate/contested, Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant references a preprint article proposing that the early universe might be a superposition of high and low entropy states, challenging the traditional past hypothesis.
  • Some participants express a need for a reference to the article to facilitate discussion, indicating that the lack of a link limits the ability to engage with the claims made.
  • Another participant emphasizes the importance of finding a valid reference related to the past hypothesis to ground the discussion in established literature.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the need for a reference to discuss the claims effectively, but there is disagreement regarding the validity and implications of the proposed superposition model versus the traditional past hypothesis.

Contextual Notes

The discussion is limited by the absence of a specific reference to the preprint article, which hinders deeper exploration of the claims made about the past hypothesis and its alternatives.

Adrian Lee
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Today I came over an article(preprint)named “time’s arrow points to many worlds”,by a Chinese researcher (who is a supporter of collapse theories himself?)
He introduced the”past hypothesis “,which is the hypothesis that the universe started as a low entropy state.(See Hawking,Wallace and others).He thinks that this isn’t necessary and he instead thinks it is possible that the early universe could be a superposition of a high entropy state and a low entropy state.In this case, the observed thermal dynamical time can only be explained by anthropological terms of quantum many worlds.
In his other article he cited this paper and “moreover,the observed thermaldynamical time may be a strong evidence of the existence of many worlds.”
I’d like to know more about the hypothesis and the significance of his claims?
 
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Adrian Lee said:
Today I came over an article(preprint)named “time’s arrow points to many worlds”,by a Chinese researcher (who is a supporter of collapse theories himself?)
What article? Please give a link.
 
PeterDonis said:
What article? Please give a link.
It’s preprint,so I can’t give it.In order not to be banned I just gave the main idea,and my main question is about the past hypothesis.(the article itself is very short within pages.)
 
Adrian Lee said:
It’s preprint,so I can’t give it.
Huh? Preprints are routinely published on arxiv.org.

If you can't give it, we can't talk about it.

Thread closed.
 
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Adrian Lee said:
my main question is about the past hypothesis
Then you need to find a reference you can give about the past hypothesis, and ask your question based on what that reference says. Since you mentioned Hawking, Wallace and others, you should have no trouble finding a valid reference.
 

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