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Main Author: Susskind, Leonard
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.01666
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author Susskind, Leonard
author_facet Susskind, Leonard
contents It is widely thought that the quantum theory of de Sitter space requires the existence of a physical observer in the static patch. What exactly is meant by an observer is unclear; it could be anything from a few photons with energy just above the Gibbons-Hawking temperature to a gravitationally bound cluster of galaxies. In a recent note I explained that the need for observers can arise from the spontaneous breaking of time-reversal symmetry. This longer paper expands on the subject, filling in conceptual arguments that were implicit but not explicitly stated in the earlier paper.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_01666
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle More About the Spontaneous Breaking of Time Reversal in de Sitter Space
Susskind, Leonard
High Energy Physics - Theory
It is widely thought that the quantum theory of de Sitter space requires the existence of a physical observer in the static patch. What exactly is meant by an observer is unclear; it could be anything from a few photons with energy just above the Gibbons-Hawking temperature to a gravitationally bound cluster of galaxies. In a recent note I explained that the need for observers can arise from the spontaneous breaking of time-reversal symmetry. This longer paper expands on the subject, filling in conceptual arguments that were implicit but not explicitly stated in the earlier paper.
title More About the Spontaneous Breaking of Time Reversal in de Sitter Space
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.01666