I have never been able to understand how a singularity can be highly ordered. Is there any room for order in such a tiny thing?
Best On May 31, 1:51 pm, Russell Standish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I came across a reference to Boltzmann brains in a recent issue of New > Scientist. The piece, quoted in full is: > > Spikes in space-time > > There is another way to think about why our universe began in a highly > ordered or "low entropy" state. In 2002, a group of physicists led by > Leonard Susskind at Stanford University in California proposed that > entities capable of observing the universe could arise via random > thermal fluctuations, as opposed to the big bang, galaxy formation and > evolution. This idea has been explored by others, including Don Page > at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Some researchers > argue that under certain conditions, self-aware entities in the form > of disembodied spikes in space-time - "Boltzmann brains" - are more > likely to emerge than complex life forms. Because they depend on > fluctuations of particles, Boltzmann brains would be more common in > regions of high entropy than low entropy. If the universe had started > out in a state of high entropy, it would be more likely to be > populated by Boltzmann brains than life forms like us, which suggests > that the entropy of our early universe had to be low. As a low-entropy > initial state is unlikely, though, this also implies that there are a > huge number of other universes out there that are unsuitable for us. > > It seemed to me that a Boltzmann brain was none other than one of our > white rabbits, or at least very closely related. Any thoughts? > > -- > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A/Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) > Mathematics > UNSW SYDNEY 2052 [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Australia http://www.hpcoders.com.au > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
