Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to 5 x 10^113 J/m^3

enough Worlds???
Adam — (archived)

Hi All

Here's a mind-boggler from a FAQ on the Many Worlds theory...

Q11 How many worlds are there?
The thermodynamic Planck-Boltzmann relationship, S = k*log(W), counts the branches of the wavefunction at each splitting, at the lowest, maximally refined level of Gell-Mann's many-histories tree. (See "What is many-histories?") The bottom or maximally divided level consists of microstates which can be counted by the formula W = exp (S/k), where S = entropy, k = Boltzmann's constant (approx 10^-23 Joules/Kelvin) and W = number of worlds or macrostates. The number of coarser grained worlds is lower, but still increasing with entropy by the same ratio, i.e. the number of worlds a single world splits into at the site of an irreversible event, entropy dS, is exp(dS/k). Because k is very small a great many worlds split off at each macroscopic event.

...that's an understatement! k = 1.38 x 10^-23 and entropy is usually at least a few Joules. So the total number of worlds is > e^(10^23) for most macroscopic interactions!

Whoah!

Adam

Log in or register to post.

The whole thread (42 posts)