Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Physics Biggest Quantum Heretic | Jonathan Oppenheim

Sep 10, 2024
Guest
Jonathan Oppenheim
Jonathan Oppenheim, a renowned theoretical physicist at UCL, delves into the uncharted territories of quantum mechanics and its relationship with classical gravity. He presents groundbreaking ideas on how gravity might persist as classical within a quantum framework and explores the implications for dark matter and dark energy. The conversation touches on the double-slit experiment's intricacies, decoherence, and diffusion in quantum systems, ultimately striving for a unified understanding of quantum and classical realms.
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INSIGHT

Gravity's Unique Nature

  • Gravity, unlike other forces, defines a universal geometry for all fields, making it unique.
  • Quantizing gravity is challenging because it requires quantizing the causal structure itself.
INSIGHT

Wheeler-DeWitt Equation Implication

  • Gravity's diffeomorphism invariance leads to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation, implying a static wave function.
  • This poses a conceptual challenge for quantum gravity theories, requiring alternative solutions like relational degrees of freedom.
INSIGHT

Classical Spacetime Theory

  • A classical spacetime, coupled with modified quantum evolution, offers intriguing possibilities.
  • This approach could eliminate the measurement postulate, explain dark matter and dark energy, and achieve renormalizability.
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