Testing the Multiverse: Bayes, Fine-Tuning and Typicality [CEA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1704.01680


Theory testing in the physical sciences has been revolutionized in recent decades by Bayesian approaches to probability theory. Here, I will consider Bayesian approaches to theory extensions, that is, theories like inflation which aim to provide a deeper explanation for some aspect of our models (in this case, the standard model of cosmology) that seem unnatural or fine-tuned. In particular, I will consider how cosmologists can test the multiverse using observations of this universe.

Read this paper on arXiv…

L. Barnes
Fri, 7 Apr 17
24/50

Comments: 19 pages, 3 figures. Conference proceedings: to appear in “The Philosophy of Cosmology”, edited by Khalil Chamcham, Joseph Silk, John D. Barrow, and Simon Saunders. Cambridge University Press, 2017