•  2954
    We propose an approach to the question of how qualia fit into the physical world, in the context of a relational and realist completion of quantum theory, called the causal theory of views\cite{views}. This is a combination of an approach to a dynamics of discrete causal structures, called energetic causal sets, developed with M. Cortes, with a realist approach to quantum foundations, called the real ensemble formulation. In this theory, the beables are the information available at each even…Read more
  •  165
    A Real Ensemble Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
    Foundations of Physics 42 (10): 1239-1261. 2012.
    A new ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics is proposed according to which the ensemble associated to a quantum state really exists: it is the ensemble of all the systems in the same quantum state in the universe. Individual systems within the ensemble have microscopic states, described by beables. The probabilities of quantum theory turn out to be just ordinary relative frequencies probabilities in these ensembles. Laws for the evolution of the beables of individual systems are given suc…Read more
  •  68
    Physics, Time, and Qualia
    with M. Cortes
    Journal of Consciousness Studies 28 (9-10): 36-51. 2021.
  •  60
    A Perspective on the Landscape Problem
    Foundations of Physics 43 (1): 21-45. 2013.
    I discuss the historical roots of the landscape problem and propose criteria for its successful resolution. This provides a perspective to evaluate the possibility to solve it in several of the speculative cosmological scenarios under study including eternal inflation, cosmological natural selection and cyclic cosmologies.Invited contribution for a special issue of Foundations of Physics titled Forty Years Of String Theory: Reflecting On the Foundations
  •  54
    Unification of the State with the Dynamical Law
    Foundations of Physics 45 (1): 1-10. 2015.
    We address the question of why particular laws were selected for the universe, by proposing a mechanism for laws to evolve. Normally in physical theories, timeless laws act on time-evolving states. We propose that this is an approximation, good on time scales shorter than cosmological scales, beyond which laws and states are merged into a single entity that evolves in time. Furthermore the approximate distinction between laws and states, when it does emerge, is dependent on the initial condition…Read more
  •  50
    Temporal naturalism
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 52 (Part A): 86-102. 2015.
    Two people may claim both to be naturalists, but have divergent conceptions of basic elements of the natural world which lead them to mean different things when they talk about laws of nature, or states, or the role of mathematics in physics. These disagreements do not much affect the ordinary practice of science which is about small subsystems of the universe, described or explained against a background, idealized to be fixed. But these issues become crucial when we consider including the whole…Read more
  •  49
    Quantum Mechanics and the Principle of Maximal Variety
    Foundations of Physics 46 (6): 736-758. 2016.
    Quantum mechanics is derived from the principle that the universe contain as much variety as possible, in the sense of maximizing the distinctiveness of each subsystem. The quantum state of a microscopic system is defined to correspond to an ensemble of subsystems of the universe with identical constituents and similar preparations and environments. A new kind of interaction is posited amongst such similar subsystems which acts to increase their distinctiveness, by extremizing the variety. In th…Read more
  •  34
    The Dynamics of Difference
    Foundations of Physics 48 (2): 121-134. 2018.
    A proposal is made for a fundamental theory, in which the history of the universe is constituted of diverse views of itself. Views are attributes of events, and the theory’s only be-ables; they comprise information about energy and momentum transferred to an event from its causal past. A dynamics is proposed for a universe constituted of views of events, which combines the energetic causal set dynamics with a potential energy based on a measure of the distinctiveness of the views, called the var…Read more
  •  32
    Stochastic mechanics, hidden variables, and gravity
    In Roger Penrose & C. J. Isham (eds.), Quantum Concepts in Space and Time, New York ;oxford University Press. pp. 1--147. 1986.
  •  23
    Interaction-Free Effects Between Distant Atoms
    with Yakir Aharonov, Eliahu Cohen, and Avshalom C. Elitzur
    Foundations of Physics 48 (1): 1-16. 2018.
    A Gedanken experiment is presented where an excited and a ground-state atom are positioned such that, within the former’s half-life time, they exchange a photon with 50% probability. A measurement of their energy state will therefore indicate in 50% of the cases that no photon was exchanged. Yet other measurements would reveal that, by the mere possibility of exchange, the two atoms have become entangled. Consequently, the “no exchange” result, apparently precluding entanglement, is non-locally …Read more
  •  4
    Temporal Naturalism
    In Remy Lestienne & Paul A. Harris (eds.), Time and Science, Volume 1: The Metaphysics of Time and Its Evolution, World Scientific Publishing. pp. 1-49. 2023.
    Article previously published as L. Smolin, (2015), Temporal Naturalism. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics., 52, part A, pp. 86–102. Reproduced with permission by Elsevier.