Explanation, Evolution and Subjective Probability in Everett Quantum Mechanics with Positive Preclusion

TL;DR

This paper introduces positive preclusion in Everett quantum mechanics, which excludes outcomes with weights below a small positive threshold, enabling explanations of organism evolution and subjective probability aligned with the Born rule without objective probability.

Contribution

It proposes a modified interpretational rule for quantum mechanics that links outcome weights to subjective probability and frequency, enhancing the explanatory power of Everett's framework.

Findings

Accounts for organism evolution with subjective probability

Derives connection between weight and frequency with finite measurements

Aligns subjective expectations with the Born rule

Abstract

The usual interpretational rule of quantum mechanics which states that outcomes do not occur when their weights are zero is changed so as to preclude outcomes with weights less than a small but positive value. With this "positive preclusion" rule, and in the absence of any notion of objective probability, Everett quantum mechanics has the explanatory power to account for the evolution of organisms with subjective expectations of probability that are in accord with the Born rule. Positive preclusion also allows for the derivation of a connection between weight and relative frequency in situations involving a finite number of measurements.