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The Time Arrow in Quantum Cosmology

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Abstract

The founders of quantum theory invented their theory as a theory of atoms, that was soon successfully applied also to other microscopic systems. Macroscopic objects were thought to require the established classical concepts. This point of view still seems to form the majority opinion among physicists in spite of their assertion that quantum theory be universally valid. We have seen in Sect. 4.3 that this schizophrenic position is not inevitable, since decoherence allows quasi-classical concepts to emerge from quantum mechanical ones within reasonable assumptions.

Our mistake is not that we take our theories too seriously, but that we do not take them seriously enough.

Stephen Weinberg (1977)

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General literature

  • DeWitt, B.S. (1967): Quantum Theory of Gravity. I. The Canonical Theory. Phys. Rev. 160, 1113 -[174,177,180,185]

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© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Zeh, H.D. (2001). The Time Arrow in Quantum Cosmology. In: The Physical Basis of The Direction of Time. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-38861-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-38861-6_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-42081-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-38861-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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