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On Time Asymmetry and History in an Everett Quantum World

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Abstract

It is usually held that the standard collapse model of a quantum measurement process grounds a kind of fundamental time asymmetry. The question whether and how it should be possible to reconstruct uniquely one's own history in an Everett no-collapse interpretation of quantum theory is investigated. A particular approach to the Everett interpretation, due to John S. Bell, is considered, according to which one of the chief claims of the Everett quantum theory is precisely that it allows us to do without the notion of history.

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Laudisa, F. On Time Asymmetry and History in an Everett Quantum World. Foundations of Physics 30, 1525–1538 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026414103340

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