241 - Raphael Bousso: The Cold Truth About Quantum Mechanics

Raphael Bousso is the Chancellor’s Chair in Physics at the Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, where he leads the Bousso Group in research on quantum gravity and quantum information. He is a renowned string theorist famous also for his development of the string theoretic landscape and the Bousso bound in holography. In this episode, Robinson and Raphael talk about the foundations of quantum mechanics and whether or not there are any deep mysteries within the theory that remain to be solved, and whether philosophical discussion of these issues is overblown. More particularly, they get into what quantum theories tell us about the world, whether we need different interpretations of quantum mechanics, whether the final theory of the universe will be quantum mechanical, how quantum mechanics connects to cosmology, the multiverse, and quantum gravity, and more.

The Bousso Group: lightsheet.berkeley.edu

OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
00:58 Raphael’s Interest in the Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
06:11 What Does Quantum Mechanics Tell Us About the World?
19:43 Just What Is an Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics?
26:17 Are There Serious Holes in Quantum Mechanics?
31:01 Schrödinger’s Cat
45:11 UV Completion
48:57 Will The Final Theory of Physics Be Quantum Mechanical?
58:00 How Cosmology Might Help Answer Questions About Quantum Mechanics
1:13:44 String Theory and the Multiverse
1:20:39 How the Multiverse Can Explain Probability
1:30:01 Will the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics Help Us Solve Quantum Gravity?

Robinson’s Website: robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.