skip to main content

High Energy Theory Seminar

Friday, February 13, 2026
11:00am to 12:00pm
Add to Cal
Online and In-Person Event
The Measure Problem and the Beginning of the Universe
Björn Hassfeld, University of Wisconsin, Madison,

The term 'measure problem' refers to the problem of how to define a probability measure on the space of the outcomes of future measurements in the situation when the underlying theory of consideration allows for multiple solutions (vacua). Such a situation naturally arises in string theory (the string landscape). I will explain how the measure problem arises and what is needed to solve it. I will present one possible definition of a measure for the multiverse and explain how predictions for future measurements can be extracted from it. The predictions depend on the initial conditions of the universe and I will present various proposals for how to define them. 

The talk is in 469 Lauritsen.

Contact [email protected] for Zoom information.