Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal Can the Future Influence the Past? Retrocausality in Quantum Theory | Ruth Kastner
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Feb 7, 2025 
Ruth Kastner, a physicist turned philosopher known for her work on the transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics, explores fascinating ideas around retrocausality and the measurement problem. She advocates for a paradigm shift in physics, encouraging a deeper understanding of quantum phenomena. The discussion dives into the distinctions between observers and measurers, the role of consciousness in measurements, and the potential for retrocausality to reshape our perception of time. Kastner also critiques traditional views and calls for more nuanced thinking in scientific inquiry.
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Transactional Interpretation (TI)
- The Transactional Interpretation (TI) of quantum mechanics addresses the measurement problem by proposing that absorbers actively generate advanced, past-directed fields.
- This creates a "transaction" that defines measurement and breaks superpositions, yielding probabilistic outcomes corresponding to the Born Rule.
Offers, Confirmations, and Photons
- Feynman diagrams represent scattering processes, not offer and confirmation waves.
- Real photons emerge from transactions between emitters (like excited atoms) and absorbers (like unexcited atoms) when energy conservation is satisfied.
Measurement vs. Observation
- Conflating observers with measurers stems from the conventional theory's inability to define measurement.
- TI defines measurement as an interaction with defined outcomes, independent of observation, addressing Schrodinger's cat paradox.