Events

Who Can Observe a Closed Universe?

The holographic principle, which states that a quantum theory of gravity in a region of space has a number of degrees of freedom proportional to the area of its boundary, has led to spectacular developments in our understanding of phenomena where quantum mechanics and gravity interact, such as the evaporation of black holes. But what happens when space has no boundary? Taken at face value, the holographic principle seems to suggest that without a boundary, quantum gravity cannot have any degrees of freedom. In this talk, we will try to shed some light on this seemingly nonsensical statement, which is nonetheless substantiated by an increasingly large amount of theoretical evidence. A key new insight will come from the role of the observer in the foundations of quantum mechanics.

Monday, September 22, 2025 11:00 AM

Inperson
G10