Time Reborn

Time Reborn: From the Crisis in Physics to the Future of the Universe by Lee Smolin, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. 

Determinism: 

Pierre-Simon Laplace: with total knowledge of the present, one can project the future of the universe

Block Universe: 

The author objects to the theory called the “block universe”, where the future is set in stone by the initial conditions and completely deterministic laws of physics. Block universe: the whole universe is a timeless mathematical object. 

Fallacy of the Spatialization of Time: 

Smolin believes that there is a problem with the mathematics of relativity, which treats time as similar to space, except with subtraction instead of addition in the Law of Pythagoras. 

Global Time: 

Smolin argues that there is a global time for the whole universe, in fact, for the collection of all universes. If space is emergent, then time must be global. Time is the most fundamental property of the universe. 

Evolution of the Laws of Physics: 

Lee Smolin describes a theory where the laws of physics evolve over time, and the future is not entirely predictable. Immutable laws of physics are a kind of background structure, and the final theory must not have a background structure. 

Cosmological Natural Selection: 

Black hole singularities create new universes. Different universes have different laws of physics. Some universes spawn more black holes than others. 

Principle of Precedence: 

All past measurements determine future measurements. Precedents create the laws of physics. 

Quantum Mechanics: 

Quantum Mechanics applies only to non-unique objects, such as electrons. 

Global Physics: 

Laws developed for part of the universe cannot be applied to the universe as a whole. 

Leibniz: 

The author bases his theories on some ideas of the famous German mathematician and philosopher Leibniz.