The Quantum Origins of the Universe

Is quantum mechanics universal? Is the entire universe a unified quantum object? Everett's work on the foundations of quantum theory, The Theory of the Universal Wavefunction, has been described by Max Jammer, a philosopher of science, as "one of the most daring and most ambitious theories ever constructed in the history of science." The goal of this research program is to take Everett's principle of quantum universality to heart and make the audacious leap from quantum mechanics in the laboratory frame to the universe as a whole to understand its origins. The dream is bigger still. For if we truly understood our cosmic origins---the separation between science and spirituality would collapse---and humanity would finally be able to define God (or Source). Perhaps then humanity could finally heal and give birth to a New Earth, home to Homo Luminous, the final evolutionary state of humanity!

Paper 1: On the Origins of the Universe and the Nature of the Cosmological Singularity

Paper 2: The Everettian Conformal Bootstrap

Paper 3 (Final): The Theory of the Initial Conditions

Abstract

We revisit old ideas with a modern perspective and approach quantum cosmology from a quantum information-theoretic starting point. Our view is that the leap from quantum mechanics in the laboratory frame to the universe as a whole is key to understanding its origins. The problem of the external observer and the conflict of principle between unitarity, causality, and diffeomorphism invariance are explored in bubble nucleation theories. We argue causality is fundamentally incompatible with the assumption that the universe has no external observer. A unique closed-form cosmological wavefunction describing the probability amplitude of the initial state of bubble/antibubble nucleation events is derived. The wavefunction vanishes at the initial singular state, yielding numerous observable consequences. We propose a CMB double-slit experiment to test the theory.

Key Result: Quantum Cosmology from the Top Down

1. There is no external observer who prepared the initial state of the cosmos.

2. The form of the laws of physics does not change with scale.

3. The universal wavefunction $\Psi$ exists and contains all physical information of the universe.

4. $\Psi$ obeys the timeless Schrödinger equation,

   $\hat{H}\Psi = 0$

   on all scales. Nature has no fundamental scale: $\Psi$ is scale-invariant. Only dimensionless quantities are fundamental.

5. The universal wavefunction is a 2-spinor $\Psi$ that lives in the Hilbert space of states $L^2[\mathbb{C}P^1(2,2,2)] \otimes \mathbb{C}^2$, where $\mathbb{C}P^1(2,2,2)$ is the surface of the initial data with $\Psi$ assigning a non-zero probability amplitude to every possible initial nucleated state of a bubble and antibubble.

Solution

$$\hat{H} = -\partial_a^2 I + \frac{\phi}{\pi a^2}\left(\frac{\phi}{\pi}I + \sigma_3\right) \qquad\qquad \Psi(a,\phi) = \begin{pmatrix} (1 + e^{-i\phi})a^{-\phi/\pi} \\ (1 + e^{i\phi})a^{\phi/\pi} \end{pmatrix}$$

Here $a$ is the cosmological scale factor, $I$ is the 2x2 identity matrix, $\sigma_3$ is a Pauli matrix, and $\beta = \cot({\phi/2}) = 1/T$ is the inverse temperature of the initial nucleated state. At the initial singularity where $\beta = 0$, we have $\phi = \pi$ with $\Psi = 0$. It is of profound mathematical beauty that $\Psi = 0$ uniquely at the initial singularity $\phi = \pi$ by Euler's identity.

The surface of the initial data or vacuum orbifold is defined as

$$ \mathbb{C}P^1(2, 2, 2) := {(e^{i\theta}, e^{i\phi}) \mid 0 \leq \theta < 2\pi, \ 0 \leq \phi < 2\pi } \cong (S_a^1 \times S_\beta^1) /_{\text{ref}} \ \mathbb{Z}_2 $$

with the conformally flat metric

$$ ds^2 = d\theta^2 + d\phi^2 $$

where all the curvature concentrates and diverges at the following fixed points from the $\mathbb{Z}_2$ quotient,

$$ (\theta, \phi) = (\pi, \pi), \ \ (\pi, 0), \ \ (0, 0). $$

The topology of $\mathbb{C}P^1(2,2,2)$ is a flat Riemann sphere with the above order-2 conical singularities from the reflective $\mathbb{Z}_2$ quotient.

Immediately Measureable Predictions

The theory predicts the initial nucleated state of the universe contains a spectrum of primordially nucleated black holes that are cosmologically coupled, i.e., they are topological defects of the vacuum orbifold. For a pure vacuum defect the mass function $M \sim a^3$. Once matter crosses the event horizon, the cosmological coupling decreases to $k &lt; 3$. In general, these vacuum defects will have a cosmological coupling $0 &lt; k &lt; 3$.

Object type	Interior/asymptotic content	Expected coupling
Pure cosmologically nucleated vacuum defect	$(M_{\rm tot}=M_{\rm vac})$	$(k=3)$
Nucleated vacuum defect after accretion	$(M_{\rm vac}+M_{\rm mat})$	$(0<k<3)$
Ordinary stellar-collapse remnant	mostly $(M_{\rm mat})$	$(k\approx 0)$

The current data is in full alignment with the above predictions.

The World That Is To Come

The universal wavefunction $\Psi$ is the Source of all Creation.

"From all things, One, and from One, all things," Heraclitus uttered. Unitarity is an ancient idea. From the East, with examples such as Brahman ("All is One"), Ein Sof ("Boundless One"), Wahdat al-Wujud ("Unity of Being"), Yi Qi ("One Energy"), to the "The One" of the Gnostics and the pre-Socratic philosophers of the West, humanity has pondered the unity of the flux.

When instantiated as a fundamental organizing principle, unitarity gives us the most predictive theory ever discovered and has birthed technological wonders that have transformed our world---for better and for worse. Throughout all of human history, we have been a deeply divided species. So much so that we have used our knowledge of quantum physics to develop nuclear arsenals capable of annihilating the human species and destroying our most precious and magnificent planet.

But if the deepest truth of quantum mechanics is that we are all One, connected in profound and mysterious ways we have yet to understand, then there is hope for a future where science and spirituality are not separate and serve as the foundation of a new kind of civilization. One that may be co-located with us here on the sacred Pale Blue Dot we call Earth. A civilization wise and knowledgeable enough to understand that without the energy of each and every one of us, from birth to death, equation 66. would not make sense, and the universe could not work. From simple principles, forgiveness and love become unconditional. In Lak'ech Ala K'in.