Emergence of Time in a Participatory Universe

TL;DR

This paper explores the fundamental nature of time in quantum theory, proposing a new interpretation where time emerges from quantum non-commutativity within a participatory realism framework, challenging traditional views.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to understanding the emergence of time from quantum non-commutativity, avoiding many-worlds and epistemic interpretation pitfalls.

Findings

Time emerges from quantum non-commutativity.

Proposes a participatory realism framework.

Challenges traditional measurement-based views.

Abstract

After stating the measurement problem, physicists usually assume the problem to be coming from the measurement part. Since classical probabilities also collapse when updating information, there is nothing special about quantum state collapse. I believe the problem comes from the unitary evolution part of quantum theory. The question we should be asking is not 'what happens during measurement?' but 'what is time?'. After discussing the problems with time evolution in quantum theory, we propose a new approach to interpret time and argue how it would emerge from the non-commutativity of quantum theory, assuming participatory realism. Its relation to the familiar mechanical or unitary notion of time is discussed. The subjectivity associated with the increasingly popular epistemic interpretations of quantum theory makes it look like it's a cure that's worse than the disease. We attempt to get objectivity back into quantum physics without resorting to the many worlds or other such interpretations.