Quantum Darwinism
So what, exactly is QD?
It was proposed by theoretical physicist Wojciech Zurek in a 2009 researchpaper.
But thats pretty wacky, so well need to dive a bit deeper to figure out whats going on.
Classical versus Quantum
40% off TNW Conference!
Youre either here or there in this realm, but never both.
It works the same way every time because the classical world is bound by certain, seemingly immutable laws.
In quantum mechanics its a given that a particle can exist in more than one simultaneous state.
It can be up, down, and both all at once this is calledsuperposition.
But this is all old news.
In 2019 we still cant address the two different worlds.
The classical one looks like it’s a what-you-see-is-what-you-get experience.
You cant use up all your observations of a rock.
Imagine trying to build something with rectangular bricks that were both vertical and horizontal at the same time.
In this light, classical reality cant exist.
Yet, to paraphrase Descartes: we think, therefore both us and classical reality must exist.
But explaining the transition from superposition to what we actually observe has so far been impossible for physicists.
The cut separates the quantum from the classical.
Bohrs Universe consists of two realms, each governed by its own laws.
With two entirely separate worlds, physicists were free to treat each one as independent realms of study.Enter Einstein.
Uncertainty
Einstein didnt like this separation very much.
I, in any case, am convinced He does not play dice with the universe.
He said:
Einsteins view was what would now be called, a hidden variable theory.
Hidden variable theories might seem to be the most obvious way to incorporate the Uncertainty Principle into physics.
But these hidden variable theories are wrong.
When the experiment was carried out carefully, the results were inconsistent with hidden variables.
So God does play dice with the universe.
All the evidence points to him being an inveterate gambler, who throws the dice on every possible occasion.
But he didnt entirely disagree with Einstein.
His supposition was that black holes represented the true random nature of the universe.
This brings us to Zurek, his work, and what it means.
In his view, were all voyeurs watching particles interact with other particles.
This answers the question how does the universe not fall apart the second we observe it?
Because theoretically, while our observationscancause decoherence, its the environment that generates the majority of superposition outcomes.
Eventually physicists hope to prove Quantum Darwinism outside of experimental simulations.
