The Anthropic Cosmological Principle

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The Anthropic Cosmological Principle

• Paul J. Miller

Paul J. Miller
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The Problem WithScience

• Deciding which assumptions to take as
  fundamental, or as a basis for building the
  physical laws that govern our Universe.
• The Anthropic Cosmological Principle relates the
  Mind and our place as observers directly to the
  phenomena traditionally within the realm of
  physical science.

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The First AnthropicPrinciple

• Many ancient philosophers and scientists came to
  the realization that our place in the universe
  determines how and what we observe.
• The earliest official Anthropic Principle
  states that our location in the universe is
  necessarily privileged to the extent of being
  compatible with our existence as observers.
  This is the basic assumption upon which
  everything we believe is based.

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Interpretations of the First Anthropic Principle

• ALL laws of the universe must be observable.
• The universe MUST be of a type that allows the
  evolution of observers (were here arent we?).
• The observed structure of the universe is
  restricted by the fact that we are observing it
  or in essence that the universe is observing
  itself.

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The Weak Anthropic Principle

• The previous interpretations of the Anthropic
  Principle lead scientists and philosophers to
  develop a more precise Anthropic Principle, the
  Weak Anthropic Principle.
• The Weak Anthropic Principle states that
  observers must be aware of the self-selection
  which results from being observers.

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Example relating to the Weak Anthropic Principle

• Suppose you are a philosopher/scientist living in
  the Aztec civilization (back in the day), and
  wish to know the number of stars that exist. To
  determine this, you would simply watch the night
  sky and count (accurately) the number of stars
  you could view. However, what you are actually
  counting is the number of visible stars from our
  planet at night, and not the total number of
  stars in the universe. Also it is unlikely for an
  observer to be aware of this fact until more
  precise instruments are invented (we still cant
  know this number, only a rough estimate, due to
  the Weak Anthropic Principle).

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The Constants of Nature

• One of the most prominent results of 20th century
  physics has been the realization that there exist
  certain properties within the universe which
  determine the size and structure of everything.
• The sizes of everything from galaxies to
  micro-organisms is determined by a collection of
  pure numbers (such as the proton-electron mass
  ratio) which govern the structure of the
  universe.
• These pure numbers have become known as The
  Constants of Nature and although totally
  independent, if any were altered in the slightest
  the Universe would not exist as we know it.

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Tweaking the Constants of Nature

• The Constants of Nature are derived from taking
  the ratios of numerous known physical constants,
  including c, G, h, e, me, mn, etc.
• If any of these constants were to be of a
  different value, even of the slightest, the
  universe we observe would be a very different
  place.
• There are infinite possibilites, but it has come
  to the belief that the set of numbers we observe
  as the constants of the nature MUST be as they
  are in order for the universe to evolve and
  sustain life.

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The Strong Anthropic Principle

• This realization about the odd coincidences
  concerning the Constants of Nature led scientists
  to develop a stronger version of the WAP.
• The Strong Anthropic Principle states that The
  universe must have those properties which allow
  life to develop within it at some point in its
  history.

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Three Interpretations of the Strong Anthropic
Principle

• 1. There exists one possible universe designed
  with the goal of generating and sustaining
  observers.
• 2. Observers are necessary to bring the universe
  into being
• 3. The existence of an infinite number of
  universes is necessary for the existence of our
  universe.
• These interpretations are highly philosophical,
  and arguments can be made for and against each.
  However, it still remains that the only true
  assumption we can make about our universe is that
  we exist in a universe that allows for our
  existence.

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The Battle Between Teleology and Modern Science

• As science has progressed throughout human
  history, it has been the tendency of scientists
  to renounce teleological ideals in place of more
  easily understood and established explanations.
• Example Biologists use the argument of Darwins
  natural selection as a means to explain
  evolution, which it does accurately and also
  biology can explain the numerous processes which
  grant us life. Even so, biologists can explain
  how we work but not why. Every cell in an
  organism has a purpose which serves the tissue
  that contains it, and the same can be said for
  the tissue to the organ, and the organ to the
  bodily system, and the system to the entire
  organism. It would be absurd to believe this
  chain of purpose simply ends with the entire
  body, but without teleological principles we are
  but groups of atoms running around wasting
  energy. If there were no purpose to a life, then
  why has it been created?

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The Weak Anthropic Principle in Physics and
Astrophysics

• It is now known that the properties of the
  natural world and its elementary components which
  determine the size and structure of almost all
  its composite objects. (The size of bodies such
  as stars, planets, and even people are neither
  random nor the result of a selection process)
• The various sizes of observed bodies in our
  universe is instead determined from the strengths
  of the various forces that exist in nature, as we
  have seen from the Constants of Nature and the
  SAP.

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Atoms and Molecules

• The properties of all atomic and molecular
  systems are controlled by only two dimensionless
  physical parameters. The finite structure
  constant and the electron-proton mass ratio.
• This ratio is determined from exact calculations
  using laws of quantum theory.
• Quantum theory predicts that electrons can only
  exist in certain orbits, and (all objects) posses
  both wave-like and particle properties.
• It is from quantum theory that the size and shape
  of all atoms and molecules, and thus everything
  larger, is determined and also it is from this
  necessity of quantum theory that the Anthropic
  Principle comes into play (Quantum theory is
  necessary in order for atoms to be as we observe
  them to be).

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Nuclear Forces

• Unlike the electromagnetic interaction needed to
  understand the structure of atoms, the strong
  nuclear force has a finite range, and is
  repulsive at a very short range.
• The internal structure of nucleons is highly
  complex, but for the purposes of this discussion
  we need only consider the relative strength of
  the strong nuclear force.
• For the nucleus of an atom, consisting of protons
  and or neutrons, if the strong force were not
  exactly the strength it is, the stability of all
  the elements crucial to life would be affected.
• The dimensionless magnitude of the strong nuclear
  force could not be anything other than what we
  observe, else we could not exist thus
  strengthening the strong anthropic principle even
  further.

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Other Players

• The strong nuclear force, along with gravity,
  leads to the formation of stars and their
  interactions which grant us energy from their
  atoms and thus our lives.
• Once at the size of a star (and its orbiting
  bodies), the size of larger structures in the
  universe are primarily determined by the force of
  gravity, due to the microscopic range of the
  other forces discussed.
• Gravity pulls stars into star clusters, and those
  star clusters into galaxies, and galaxies into
  galaxy clusters, and those into what we see when
  we gaze through the Hubble telescope.

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The little big story

• We have seen how the constants of nature
  determine whether or not life is possible, and
  thus how observers and what they observe are
  forever linked.
• From observation, it was learned that Newtons
  Laws of Motion were a good approximation but not
  totally accurate, and Einsteins theory of
  relativity correctly predicted the motions of
  particles. However, Einsteins general theory of
  relativity also predicted that the Universes
  history began with a Big Bang, and that the
  universe is in a continual dynamic state.
• Relativity gave birth to the Big Bang Theory,
  which along with the previous topics has proven
  to give us an apparently accurate description of
  the history of the Universe.
• Quite simply, the Big Bang is another part of the
  grand story of our evolution, and following with
  the SAP, we would not be here without it. It
  accurately predicts many (if not all) of the
  constants of nature we have come to observe.

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Quantum Mechanics and the Anthropic Principle

• In classical physics, Man seemed to be entirely
  independent of his observations. It was not
  until the advent of quantum mechanics that our
  role in the cosmos appears to be of the utmost
  importance.
• From Heisenbergs uncertainty principle, the
  importance of the observer comes into play. Due
  to the properties involved in observation itself,
  an atomic particles position and momentum can
  not both be known with absolute precision, but
  rather the probabilities of position and momentum
  within a certain range.
• From the complex workings of quantum mechanics,
  it has become known that many physical properties
  of atomic particles DID NOT EXIST prior to the
  act of their observation. In essence, their
  observation was necessary to bring these
  properties into existence. From these mind
  boggling aspects of q.m., the importance of the
  observer in the universe can begin to unfold,
  which leads us back to the anthropic principle.
  Would the universe exist if there were no
  observers to observe it?

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The End of the Beginning

• It would now seem that (at least) our Universe
  was designed with observers in mind.
  Everything that has ever been observed has been
  observed because it is the nature of the Universe
  to be observed.
• What then, is the fate of the Universe?

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The Fate of the Universe

• As the end of the Universe is yet to be
  observed, it can only be speculated what is in
  store for not only us, but everything.
• As observers evolve and survive, their knowledge
  grows. One very likely possibility is that we
  (observers) are here to survive, and at some
  point in time in order for life to survive, the
  Universe must also survive. If we as observers
  gain the knowledge to sustain that which keeps us
  alive, then theoretically the Universe could
  exist an infinite amount of time, granting us
  infinite knowledge.
• The point of infinite knowledge is also known as
  the Omega Point. Upon reaching the Omega Point,
  infinite knowledge gives observers control over
  all of time, matter, and space, and every
  possibility that has ever been or ever will be.
  We would in fact be God.
• Perhaps this is not the observers fate nor the
  fate of the Universe. However, the Anthropic
  Principles have given us at least a glimpse of
  the true nature of the universe and its
  observers, and only through observation can we
  survive to gain the knowledge of how to survive
  longer. Perhaps someday we will know the true
  fate of the Universe, and until then theres
  nothing we can do but observe.

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THE END