The Wave Function at the Universe

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The general framework of quantum cosmology, it seems to me has been able to capture a few key foundational features of how we go about thinking about the quantum universe. These these these toy models do capture certain essential features. The universe, the fact that the universe inflates at early times. And also, as we all know from quantum mechanics, active observation plays a crucial role. We keep saying we don't understand quantum gravity, but I think we are we're still way along.

Is there a multiverse, and if so, how should we think of ourselves within it? In many modern cosmological models, the universe includes more than one realm, with possibly different laws of physics, and these realms may or may not include intelligent observers. There is a longstanding puzzle about how, in such a scenario, we should calculate what we, as presumably intelligent observers ourselves, should expect to see. Today's guest, Thomas Hertog, is a physicist and longstanding collaborator of Stephen Hawking. They worked together (often with James Hartle) to address these questions, and the work is still ongoing.

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Thomas Hertog received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Cambridge. He is currently a professor of theoretical physics at KU Leuven. His new book is On the Origin of Time: Stephen Hawking's Final Theory.

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