Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory/Many-worlds Interpretation
The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics or MWI, also known as the relative state formulation, theory of the universal wavefunction, many-universes interpretation, Oxford interpretation or just many worlds, is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that claims to resolve all the "paradoxes" of quantum theory by allowing every possible outcome to every event to define or exist in its own "history" or "world", via the mechanism of quantum decoherence, instead of wavefunction collapse. Many worlds reconciles how we can perceive non-deterministic events (such as the random decay of a radioactive atom) with the deterministic equations of quantum physics; history, which prior to many worlds had been viewed as a single "world-line", is rather a many-branched tree where every possible branch of history is realised. MWI was first theorized in a dissertation by Hugh Everett which was initially rejected by Neils Bohr but gradually gained acceptance with the encouragement of Everett's thesis advisor John Wheeler.
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