poly: infinite universe

> If the universe is open and infinite in spatial extent, isn't that
    enough to provide as many reactions as you like? Or do you require
    a *sequence* of that many trials?

An infinite universe with an infinite amount of matter would do just fine.
In fact, we could get by with a not-quite-infinite-but-really-really-big
universe. But a diameter of a mere quadrillion light years won't do.

Another (bizarre) alternative that nominally preserves the status quo
is "Many Worlds": at every instant, every possible quantum choice is
made in all possible ways, and the universe branches along all these
paths simultaneously. A fancier version somehow adds a measure theory,
with more-probable universes having larger probaility measures.

Under this notion, we just happen to live in a branch where a series of
miracles (i.e., unlikely events) occured to get life started, perhaps
on this planet.

I personally find this difficult to distinguish from a "Divine
Intervention" theory, and it also has problems with observables.

It would probably qualify as "queerer than you can imagine", but it
can be consistent with, say, a 15GY universe age.

Rich Schroeppel rcs@cs.arizona.edu
Received on Thu Jul 16 18:54:01 1998