[extropy-chat] Is Many Worlds testable?

[Russell Wallace]

On 12/29/06, Lee Corbin <lcorbin at rawbw.com> wrote:
>
> I don't know why gravitons don't emerge from the photon in
> universe A that is traveling through slit 1 that forever make
> that universe distinct from universe B---but the ways of
> decoherence are not given unto me.


As I understand it, roughly speaking the two branches will only be different
enough to decohere - erase the interference pattern - if on the order of kT
energy is dissipated. Gravity is a very weak force, so any gravitons
produced by a single photon or electron would carry far less energy than
that.

On the other hand it strikes me as unlikely that a computer could be made so
perfectly reversible as to be able to run a conscious experience with less
than kT energy dissipation, so I don't think the Deutsch experiment will
ever be feasible (though it appears sound in physical principle).

On the third hand it might be feasible to probe the conditions under which
decoherence does occur, say using a simple molecular electronic device to
record and then erase the information; if you could carry out a series of
experiments showing that kT energy dissipation appears to be the necessary
and sufficient condition for decoherence, that would constitute evidence in
favor of the many worlds interpretation.
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