Quantum mechanics, spacetime locality, and gravity

DOI10.1007/S10701-013-9729-1zbMATH Open1275.83005arXiv1110.4630OpenAlexW2145445511WikidataQ59203806 ScholiaQ59203806MaRDI QIDQ368071FDOQ368071

Authors: Yasunori Nomura 

Publication date: 18 September 2013

Published in: Foundations of Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Quantum mechanics introduces the concept of probability at the fundamental level, yielding the measurement problem. On the other hand, recent progress in cosmology has led to the "multiverse" picture, in which our observed universe is only one of the many, bringing an apparent arbitrariness in defining probabilities, called the measure problem. In this paper, we discuss how these two problems are intimately related with each other, developing a complete picture for quantum measurement and cosmological histories in the quantum mechanical universe. On one hand, quantum mechanics eliminates the arbitrariness of defining probabilities in the multiverse, as discussed in arXiv:1104.2324. On the other hand, the multiverse allows for understanding why we observe an ordered world obeying consistent laws of physics, by providing an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space. This results in the irreversibility of quantum measurement, despite the fact that the evolution of the multiverse state is unitary. In order to describe the cosmological dynamics correctly, we need to identify the structure of the Hilbert space for a system with gravity. We argue that in order to keep spacetime locality, the Hilbert space for dynamical spacetime must be defined only in restricted spacetime regions: in and on the (stretched) apparent horizon as viewed from a fixed reference frame. This requirement arises from eliminating all the redundancies and overcountings in a general relativistic, global spacetime description of nature. It is responsible for horizon complementarity as well as the "observer dependence" of horizons/spacetime---these phenomena arise to represent changes of the reference frame in the relevant Hilbert space. This can be viewed as an extension of the Poincare transformation in the quantum gravitational context, as the Lorentz transformation is viewed as an extension of the Galilean transformation.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1110.4630

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zbMATH Keywords

multiversequantum gravityquantum cosmology

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Nuclear physics (81V35) Quantization of the gravitational field (83C45) Relativistic cosmology (83F05)

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Cited In (14)

• Black holes, entropies, and semiclassical spacetime in quantum gravity
• Entropy of massive quantum fields in de Sitter space-time
• Quantum space-time and gravitational consequences
• Quantum correlations, nuclearity, and spacetime curvature
• Towards space from Hilbert space: finding lattice structure in finite-dimensional quantum systems
• Spacetime equals entanglement
• From the black hole conundrum to the structure of quantum gravity
• Relativeness in quantum gravity: limitations and frame dependence of semiclassical descriptions
• Physics beyond the multiverse: naturalness and the quest for a fundamental theory
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• De Sitter space without dynamical quantum fluctuations
• Lagrangian constraints and renormalization of 4D gravity
• Indeterminism, Gravitation, and Spacetime Theory
• Global and local horizon quantum mechanics

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