(October 18, 2018 at 10:10 pm)Jehanne Wrote:(October 18, 2018 at 2:49 pm)polymath257 Wrote: But, as your link shows, the Schrodinger equation needed to go beyond the single particle non-relativistic equation is different than the one in Griffiths. In fact, the appropriate equation is usually derived from the Lagrangian formulation and can be put into the Schrodinger form, but the standard Schrodinger equation is the non-relativistic version of things (although it can be multi-particle---which the one in Griffiths is not).
Is not this the Quantum Eternity Theorem that Professor Sean Carroll is speaking of, or, at least a simplified version of it? I admit that I am no expert, but as I read Professor Griffiths, the central concept is one of renormalization, which, as you seem to acknowledge, implies that the Cosmos is eternal, that is, without beginning or end.
In any case, even if I am reading things wrong here, there are still eternal models of cosmology (infinite universes, in space and time), in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.
(October 18, 2018 at 5:05 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote: Quantify “absolute”.
A foundational fact of reality; if not true, then Last Thursdayism is a viable hypothesis.
As you enumerates our current understanding of reality, what criteria do you use to assess which of what we believe to be facts are foundational, and which are not?
It seems to me Last Thursdayism is, and very likely will always remain, a viable hypothesis. it is just an as yet unsupported hypothesis. The possibility of it being true, while likely extremely small, certainly isn’t zero.
