Possible Anthropic Support for a Decaying Universe: A Cosmic Doomsday Argument

TL;DR

The paper proposes that using a spacetime volume averaging approach in cosmology provides anthropic support for a universe that is decaying rapidly, potentially ending in about 20 billion years, addressing the Boltzmann brain problem.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of spacetime volume averaging to support the idea of a decaying universe within anthropic reasoning.

Findings

Spacetime volume averaging can resolve fine-tuning issues in decay mechanisms.

Supports the hypothesis of an imminent cosmic doomsday within 20 billion years.

Addresses the Boltzmann brain problem through anthropic reasoning.

Abstract

I have suggested that one possible solution of the Boltzmann brain problem is that the universe is decaying at an astronomical rate, making it likely to decay within 20 billion years. A problem with this suggestion is that it seems to require unnatural fine tuning in the decay mechanism that would not be explained anthropically. Here it is pointed out that if a spacetime version of volume averaging were used in the cosmological measure problem, this would give anthropic support for an impending cosmic doomsday.