The Uncertainty of the Universe

3min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

quantum theory is interesting in that respect. It's a theory for what we get, but also a theory that sort of tells us what we can't know. And here in our model, this is sort of playing out at the level of the largest scales. So it's a picture which I came to see that builds in a certain finitude.

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.

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

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.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.