MWH+(Ryan,+David,+John)

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 * By: Ryan W. Ouimette, David W. Keplesky, and John J. Mindek **

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Mario MWH Explanation

This video protrays MWH very well. Through the common game and characters of Super Mario, the complex Multiple Worlds Hypothesis is clearly portrayed. Mario splits into all the other universes and possibilites to show how in undefinate situations, many possible paths can be taken. In the Mario case, although their are many paths to take, only one will lead you to victory at the end of the level.

Overview of Multiple Worlds Hypothesis
Formulated in 1957, the “Many worlds theory”, created by Hugh Everett and the help of Bryce DeWitt and John Wheeler, stated that there are a countless number of worlds in our universe in addition to the world that we live in. Many scientists disapproved of this theory, mostly because the idea of other worlds besides the one we are experiencing did not seem to fit and make sense, and the idea didn’t follow Ockham’s principle. However, many experiments did show possibilities of other worlds beyond the one we experience, showing the Many Worlds Hypothesis to not be totally useless. These experiments included the Double Slit Experiment, the Davisson-Germer Experiment, and the Schrödinger's Cat experiment. The thought of the Many Worlds Hypothesis also helped to open up ideas towards other scientific discoveries and theories, including time travel, gravity, and mortality. Although one can’t prove this theory as true to make it a fact, the idea of other worlds other than our own has opened up scientists eyes to other discoveries and possible theories, as well as create a path to discovering the answer to the question, what is missing in quantum mechanics? Thanks to Hugh Everett and the help of Bryce DeWitt and John Wheeler, science as we knew it would never be the same.

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This video has a good explanation of how the electron/photon has very confusing properties. It travles like a wave, in a wavelike function, but when it comes in contact with anything or is measured by something, it acts like a particle.

The Beginning
When Hugh Everett, the founder of the Multiple Worlds Hypothesis, started to tackle the age long question of the definate measurement problem in Quantum Physics, he searched for any possible reason for how to make undeterminable question definate. The main problem was that an atomic particle, such as an electron can be in two or more superpositions at one time, yet any time a scientist measures this phenomana, the particle is at a definate location. Everett made a revolutionary theory that blew the minds of all scientists at that time. Everett stated that since no one knows what the particle will be until they actually look at it, the particle has to be doing all possiblitiesat the same time. He used an electron to describe his theory. If you place an electron in a box and are trying to determine whether the electron is spin up or spin down, then it must be both, and the universe splits into two when the box is opened. One world will be spin up, and the other world spin down. This idea caught on and is the most popular view in today's world. Source 7

Hugh Everett
 Even before he entered college and graduate school, Hugh Everett, the founder of the Multiple Worlds Hypothesis, had a profound interest in Physics, including the field of Quantum Mechanics. In his time at Princeton, Everett realized the issues in Quantum Concepts, introduced by physicist Niels Bohr. He sought to provide a reasonable explanation to explain the apparent paradoxes. Along with the help of John Wheeler who had worked with Niels Bohr and was a part of the Manhattan Project, Everett began to explore the philosophical ideas in association with Quantum Mechanics. He wrote a dissertation titled “Quantum Mechanics,” and an article, that was published from his findings, in the summer of 1957, presented the idea of life splitting at every moment, a concept coined as “Everettism”. This idea founded the concept of the Multiple Worlds Hypothesis. Source 2

Bryce DeWitt ​
Though at first skeptical of the work done by Everett, because felt it was more involved in the philosophical field, rather than the field of physics, Bryce DeWitt later sought to legitimize the ideas of Everett through mathematics. DeWitt disagreed with the notion of the splitting of the worlds since he couldn’t see the physical process of it and classified it as a philosophical phenomenon. With the assistance of John Wheeler, he was able to formulate the Wheeler-DeWitt Equation which describes the workings of the wave functions in the universe. This equation, as well as his adjacent work of relativity in space and the quantum theory, has given further insight and more support to the Multiple Worlds Hypothesis. Source 3

John Wheeler
John Wheeler, began working alongside Niels Bohr, the famed physicist who helped found the Copenhagen Interpretation, which says that the state of each particle can be shown through a wavefunction. He continued his work in America, as he helped in the development of the Manhatten Project, creating the first atomic weapn, during World War II. Following his work there he aided Hugh Everett in his work on Quantum Mechanics, and his help was crucuial in making a theory that would be acceptable to scientists, as many were skeptical of what they considered a philosophical theory. Wheeler went on to do more work in the field with DeWitt, who was also a mathematician, and interested Wheeler more so than Everett since he took a more mathmatical and physical approach as opposed to just looking at a philosophical idea which gave their findings more merit in the scientific community. Therefore, in his collarboration with other notable physicists, Wheeler had a great impact in Quantum Mechanics and even more so on the Multiple Worlds Hypothesis. Source 3

The Multiple Worlds Hypothesis provides many implications that has opened up the possibility for ideas deemed impossible, while putting in to question some basic scientific principles.

Time Travel
Time Travel, which is seen by many as simply a fantasy, is possible through the Multiple Worlds Hypothesis. By the hypothesis, multiple universes are created as different results of every moment in our universe. We only see the one universe we are in because the wave function of the others collapse, while ours doesn't. Therefore if the other essential laws of physics allow, man would be able to travel to other possible universes. Though man wouldn't be able to see the past of our particular universe, we would be different results of the universes split from the one we live in. And furthermore, through this process communication between separate universes would be possible.

Gravity
The ideal of gravity being a measurable force is also brought into question by the Multiple Worlds Hypothesis. Because universes branch off from the one we are living in, that allows for the idea that the universes are closely connected. If time travel, or even communication are available to the other similar universes to the one we live in then gravity isn't the measurable force that separates universes, but instead a perceived force, relative to the universes it separates. As a result, it questions the basis of our ideas on the force of gravity.

Mortality
The Multiple Worlds Hypothesis also allows for another interesting possibility. Because our universe splits at every moment in our lives, immortality may be in the realm of possibility. At the time of one's death, a separate universe where that person survives is very much so feasible, and because of that whenever someone dies they can live on in another universe. Moreover, at each death after that, survival is available in another one of the universes. Therefore, if the universe we live in is coincidentally the universe that survives death, man would conceivably be able to survive things such as falling from a skyscraper, as an immortal being. Moreover one can also be alive and dead at the same time if one dies in one universe and lives in another one. Though this concept goes against one of the most fundamental values of mortality in mankind, through the Multiple Worlds Hypothesis, it is possible.

Objections to MWH
Many of the objections to the Many Worlds Hypothesis occurred because of the misconception of the term “Worlds”. Many scientists mixed the term “Worlds” with “Universes” which are totally different terms all together. Many scientists also rejected this vision because the Many Worlds Hypothesis and the fact that Everett was introducing the idea of other worlds that we cannot see was very hard to believe, as well as didn’t follow Ockham's principle, which states: "Entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity". [|Source 8] “Besides the question of the interpretation of the probability measure, there is a separate issue about probabilities in the MWI, namely the claim that was sometimes made, that the probability postulate, i.e. the postulate that the probability measure is proportional to the measure of existence, can be derived from the formalism of the MWI. Several authors, criticize the MWI on the grounds that this claim fails. As a matter of fact, the MWI has no advantage over other interpretations with regard to this issue. What is true instead is that one //can // derive the [|Probability Postulate] from a weaker postulate according to which the probability is a function of the measure of existence.” [|Source 8] What this quote is saying is that there is a possibility that the probability postulate can be taken from the Many Worlds Hypothesis, however, some authors disagree and state that the probability postulate CAN’T be seen within the Many Worlds Hypothesis, but can be seen and taken from a “weaker postulate” or a more existent world, not a world that can’t be seen or has no proof of existence, because probability postulate is stated as: “the postulate that the probability measure is proportional to the measure of existence.”  

Double Slit Experiment
The double slit experiment, set up by Thomas Young in 1803, the experiment consisted of an electron gun shooting electrons at two narrow slit in front of a wall and observing the pattern on the wall. Unlike light, which only showed up on the wall in two long slits, where the slits were open in front, the electrons scattered equally all over the wall. Because of the parallel universes the electrons don't exist until we see them on the wall. Because the electrons are fulfilling every possible space, the Multiple Worlds Hypothesis is shown to be correct since parallel universes are fulfilling every possible path for the electrons though we just see the ones in our universe randomly scattered. Source 4

Davisson-Germer Experiment
This experiment done in 1927 was important in proving the wave-particle duality of electrons providing support for DeBroglie. To conduct the experiment, a beam of electrons was shot at a piece of nickel crystal and aimed at a degree of 50 degrees at a detector. The diffraction of the electrons detected was exactly what was expected by Bragg's Law which provides the diffraction pattern for X-rays, using the wavelength, the distance between the two planes for the electrons and angle at which the electron beam comes of the crystal. Thus, the wave-particle nature of electrons is proven. Source 5

Schrödinger's Cat
In 1935, physicist Erwin Schrödinger put together an interesting interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. He believed that possibilities of Quantum Mechanics should be limited and came up with a scenario to rationally show this. He envisioned a cat in a sealed box along with a flask with poison in it, attached to a geiger counter. It is possible that the geiger counter would detect radiation, shatter the glassand kill the cat, but becase the observer can't see inside the box, the cat, by the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics is both dead and alive, which is impossible. Schrödinger believed Quantum Mechanics opened the door for the possibility of being both dead and alive, which is also true of immortality and that was his main argument against the practicality of the Copenhagen interpretation. This experiment doesn't necessarily try prove the Multiple Worlds Hypothesisincorrect, instead it argues agaisnt some of the implications of it. Source 6



== Sources== > many-worlds-hypothesis>
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