Einstein's Fridge: How the Difference Between Hot and Cold Explains the Universe
by Paul Sen · 16 Mar 2021 · 444pp · 111,837 words
striking of which is the first statement from scientific reasoning alone that the universe must have originated in a single moment of creation. CHAPTER TWELVE Boltzmann Brains I sleep badly and am quite beside myself with misery.… Please forgive me everything! —Ludwig Boltzmann In 1854, William Thomson had concluded from observing heat
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that exists is one brain, which holds the entire cosmos as a figment of its imagination. Scientists now refer to this hypothetical entity as a Boltzmann brain. Few favor such an explanation, although no one has yet come up with a definitive explanation for why the universe did begin in such an
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urge”: See above. Zermelo’s papers: Wissenschaftliche Abhandlung von Ludwig Boltzmann edited by Fritz Hasenhoehrl, as quoted in Boltzmann’s Atom by Lindley. Chapter Twelve: Boltzmann Brains I sleep badly: Ludwig Boltzmann: Life and Letters by Walter Höflechner, as quoted in Boltzmann’s Atom: The Great Debate That Launched a Revolution in
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Kinetic Theory, vol. 2, by Stephen G. Brush. This kind of reasoning is known as the anthropic principle: See From Eternity to Here by Carroll. Boltzmann brain: See “Can the Universe Afford Inflation?” by Andreas Albrecht and Lorenzo Sorbo, Physical Review D 70 (2004); and see From Eternity to Here by Carroll
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memory of lecture by, 132 time’s arrow concept and, 103, 127–28 trip to California by, 131–32 Zermelo’s criticism of, 126, 127 Boltzmann brain theory, 130 Born, Max, 160 Bose, Satyendra Nath, 159–60 Boulton, Matthew, 4, 5 Brentano, Franz, 126 Britain, 1–6, 9 love-hate relationship with
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, in refrigeration, 111–12, 162, 163, 164, 165 Copenhagen group, 160 cosmic microwave background radiation, 158 cotton-manufacturing industry, 2, 23–24 creation of universe Boltzmann brain theory and, 130 Boltzmann’s creation moment in, 126, 127–30 random fluctuation hypothesis on, 129–30 cryptography, 169, 203 Shannon’s early experience with
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, 203, 213 Turing Test, 204 Tyndall, John, 242–44 uniformitarianism, 70, 71 Universal Machine, 201, 204 universe anthropic principle on human life in, 128–29 Boltzmann brain theory and, 130 Boltzmann’s idea of a single moment of creation for, 126, 127–30 event horizon around, 239 expansion of, 238–39 grand
From eternity to here: the quest for the ultimate theory of time
by Sean M. Carroll · 15 Jan 2010 · 634pp · 185,116 words
likely to have evolved from an unbroken egg than it is likely to evolve to an unbroken egg. Which is to say, not bloody likely. BOLTZMANN BRAINS The egg-in-a-box example illustrates the fundamental problem with the Boltzmann-Lucretius scenario: We can’t possibly appeal to a Past Hypothesis that
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gradually out of the surrounding chaos and then gradually dissolve back into it. Such sad creatures have been dubbed “Boltzmann brains” by Andreas Albrecht and Lorenzo Sorbo.188 You and I are not Boltzmann brains—we are what one might call “ordinary observers,” who did not fluctuate all by ourselves from the surrounding equilibrium
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likely that fluctuation will be. No matter how many ordinary observers exist in our universe today, they would be dwarfed by the total number of Boltzmann brains to come. Any given observer is a collection of particles in some particular state, and that state will occur infinitely often, and the number of
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number of times it will arise as part of an “ordinary” universe. Just to be careful, though—are you really sure you are not a Boltzmann brain? You might respond that you feel the rest of your body, you see other objects around you, and for that matter you have memories of
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we are claiming. It’s not right to say, “I know I am not a Boltzmann brain, so clearly the universe is not a random fluctuation.” The right thing to say is, “If I were a Boltzmann brain, there would be a strong prediction: Everything else about the universe should be in equilibrium. But
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world (which there will be), isn’t that all I need to proclaim that this picture is consistent with the data? In other words, the Boltzmann-brain argument makes an implicit assumption: that we are somehow “typical observers” in the universe, and that therefore we should make predictions by asking what most
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of we) should be the smallest possible fluctuation away from thermal equilibrium consistent with our existence. In the most extreme version, we should be disembodied Boltzmann brains, surrounded by a gas with uniform temperature and density. But we’re not, and further experiments continue to reveal more evidence that the rest of
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, the future is an eternity of ultra-cold temperature that never drops to zero. Hence, we should expect an endless future of thermal fluctuations—including Boltzmann brains and any other sort of thermodynamically unlikely configuration we might have worried about in an eternal box of gas. And that would seem to imply
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. There will be random fluctuations in the thermal radiation that lead to all sorts of unlikely events—including the spontaneous generation of galaxies, planets, and Boltzmann brains. The chance that any one such thing happens at any particular time is small, but we have an eternity to wait, so every allowed thing
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through space.252 The acceleration of the universe was discovered in 1998. Theorists chewed over this surprising result for a while before the problem with Boltzmann brains became clear. It was first broached in a 2002 paper by Lisa Dyson, Matthew Kleban, and Leonard Susskind, with the ominous title “Disturbing Implications of
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it’s not clear exactly how this would work, and compelling models of decaying dark energy turn out to be difficult to construct. So the Boltzmann-brain problem—“Why do we find ourselves in a universe evolving gradually from a state of incredibly low entropy, rather than being isolated creatures that recently
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belongs to the realm of cosmology. The anthropic principle is woefully inadequate for the task, since we could easily find ourselves constituted as random fluctuations (Boltzmann brains) in an otherwise empty de Sitter space. Likewise, inflation by itself doesn’t address the question, as it requires an even lower-entropy starting point
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will be thermal fluctuations, just as we would expect in a sealed box of gas in a Newtonian spacetime. Such fluctuations can give rise to Boltzmann brains, or entire galaxies, or whatever other macrostate you have in mind, if you wait long enough. But we do not appear to be such a
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space might not simply stretch on for all eternity, uninterrupted. Something might happen to it. If that were the case, everything we have said about Boltzmann brains would be out the window. That argument made sense only because we knew exactly what kind of system we were dealing with—a gas at
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our scenario is going to be useful, the specific definition of “like us” shouldn’t matter.) This version of the multiverse will feature both isolated Boltzmann brains lurking in the empty de Sitter regions, and ordinary observers found in the aftermath of the low-entropy beginnings of the baby universes. Indeed, there
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is some special kind of fluctuation that makes a Big Bang, and that kind of fluctuation is more likely than a fluctuation that makes a Boltzmann brain. That might be what actually happens, according to the ultimately correct laws of physics—indeed, we’ll propose something much like that later in the
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initial and final after the fact, since the low-Weyl-curvature direction would have a lower entropy. 277 Another problem is the apparent danger of Boltzmann brains if the universe enters an eternal de Sitter phase in the future. Also, the concept of a “singularity” from classical general relativity is unlikely to
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we all share the same universe, and the urge to understand it is part of what makes us human. INDEX Abbott, Edwin A. acceleration and Boltzmann brains and expansion of the universe and relativity and special relativity and time travel and velocity and wormholes Achatz, Grant Acta Mathematica Aeneid (Virgil) aether Aguirre
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, Andreas algorithmic complexity “All You Zombies” (Heinlein) Alpher, Ralph Amis, Martin anisotropies Annalen der Physik Annie Hall (1977) anthropic principle and arrow of time and Boltzmann brains and the current state of the universe and multiverse hypothesis and natural theology and recurrence anti-de Sitter space antiparticles antiquarks Arcadia (Stoppard) Aristotle Arroway
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theory and Loschmidt’s reversibility objection and Past Hypothesis and Principle of Indifference and recurrence theorem and the Second Law of Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics Boltzmann brains Boltzmann-Lucretius scenario Bondi, Hermann boost. bosons bouncing-universe cosmology boundary conditions and cause and effect described and initial conditions of the universe and irreversibility
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and vacuum energy variations of Von Neumann on and white holes “Entropy” (Pynchon) Epicurus EPR paradox equations equilibrium and anthropic principle and the biosphere and Boltzmann brains described and entropy and fate of the universe and multiverse model and recurrence theorem and usable energy equivalence principle ergodic systems escape velocity eternal inflation
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interstellar distances intrinsic quantum indeterminacy invariance irrational numbers irreversible processes. See also entropy and arrow of time and baby universes model and black holes and Boltzmann brains and entropy and growth of structure and microscopic level and possibilism and space of states “Is it Possible to Create a Universe in the Laboratory
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closed timelike curves EPR paradox “recurrence paradox,” and time travel parallel realities parity Parmenides Parsifal (Wagner) particle accelerators particle physics Pascal, Blaise Past Hypothesis and Boltzmann brains and the Boltzmann-Lucretius scenario and bouncing-universe cosmology and cause and effect and cognitive instability described and free will and Maxwell’s Demon and
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universes Podolsky, Boris Poincaré, Henri Poincaré recurrence theorem Poincaré transformations Popper, Karl popular culture position possibilism potential energy predestination. See also Future Hypothesis prediction and Boltzmann brains and classical mechanics and closed timelike curves and loops in time and multiverse model and possibilism and scientific method and statistical mechanics and wave functions
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Earth and general relativity matter contrasted with and reconstruction of the past Ramis, Harold randomness r e-collapsing universe recombination recurrence and anthropic principle and Boltzmann brains and Boltzmann-Lucretius scenario and Boltzmann’s death and equilibrium and Nietzsche and Poincaré proof of “recurrence paradox,” and three-body problems troubles with and
And Finally
by Henry Marsh · 167pp · 57,175 words
universe will eventually come to an end, it is an incomprehensibly long time away. Some of them have come up with the disconcerting idea of Boltzmann brains. The Second Law of Thermodynamics (developed by Ludwig Boltzmann in the latter part of the nineteenth century) explains thermodynamics – the study of matter, energy and
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system and, so the argument goes, even less improbable that billions of particles might suddenly assemble themselves into a brain. So perhaps I am a Boltzmann brain, and what I think is the real world is just a pattern of electrochemical impulses in my brain, formed by randomly self-assembled particles of
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matter. Which, in a sense, it is, whether you believe in the possibility of Boltzmann brains or not. There is, however, a problem with life extension for sceptics like me. There is good evidence that increasing lifespan – at least in mice
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heaven, and not in hell. Once you accept the message of neuroscience that thought and feeling are physical phenomena, an afterlife seems as unlikely as Boltzmann brains. There are a few neuroscientists I know who, somehow or other, manage to maintain a belief in an afterlife. One of them wrote to me
When Einstein Walked With Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought
by Jim Holt · 14 May 2018 · 436pp · 127,642 words
(false) memories, that will appear and disappear. In the scientific literature, these sad and evanescent entities are called Boltzmann brains (after Ludwig Boltzmann, one of the pioneers of modern thermodynamics). One such deep-future Boltzmann brain would be identical to your own brain as it is constituted at this very moment. Thus, in some
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Black-Scholes equation Blake, William Blakeslee, Sandra Bleak House (Dickens) Bletchley Park Block, Ned Bloomsbury group Bogdanov, Igor and Grichka Bohr, Niels Bok, Derek Bolsheviks “Boltzmann brains” Bolyai, János Bonn University Book of Dead Philosophers (Critchley) Boole, Mary Borel, Émile Borges, Jorge Luis Boston University Bott, Raoul Bourbaki cabal Bourdieu, Pierre Bowen
The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy
by Moiya McTier · 14 Aug 2022 · 194pp · 63,798 words
://lcn2.github.io/mersenne-english-name/tenpower/tenpower.html. 2 These hypothetical free-floating brains were called Boltzmann Brains, named after Ludwig Boltzmann, who did NOT come up with the idea. Most scientists would dismiss Boltzmann Brains as silly, but that doesn’t stop physicists from getting into the most frustrating conversations about whether
Fuller Memorandum
by Stross, Charles · 14 Jan 2010 · 366pp · 107,145 words
coiling luminous intrusions glimpsed in the abruptly emptied eyes of a former colleague; minds patient and incomprehensibly old that find amusement in our tortured writhing; Boltzmann Brains from the chaotic, necrotic depths of the distant future, reaching back through the thinning ultrastructure of spacetime to idly toy with our reality. Things that