Boltzmann Brains--I'd Rather See Than Be One
J. Richard Gott III

TL;DR
The paper argues that Boltzmann Brains are not a genuine problem for the flat-lambda cosmological model because they are observer-dependent phenomena and cannot be considered real observers, thus preserving the model's validity.
Contribution
It introduces an observer-dependent perspective on Boltzmann Brains, showing they are not truly real and do not threaten the standard cosmological model.
Findings
Boltzmann Brains are observer-dependent and not real particles.
The rate of tunneling events producing ordinary observers exceeds that of Boltzmann Brains.
Boltzmann Brains do not pass the Turing test for intelligence.
Abstract
A perceived problem with the standard flat-lambda model is that in the far future spacetime becomes an exponentially expanding de Sitter space, filled with Gibbons-Hawking thermal radiation, and given infinite time there will appear an infinite number of Boltzmann Brains (BB's) per finite co-moving volume today. If BB's outnumber ordinary observers by an infinite factor, why am I not one? This Gibbons-Hawking thermal radiation is observer dependent--due to observer dependent event horizons. Different observers moving relative to each other will see different photons, and different BB's. I will argue that the only particles that are real are the particles dredged out of the quantum vacuum state by particular real material detectors. (In much the same way, accelerated detectors dredge thermal Unruh radiation out of the Minkowski vacuum due to their observer dependent event horizons.)…
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Taxonomy
TopicsNeural dynamics and brain function · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life · Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
