Many-worlds interpretation

The many-worlds interpretation is an interpretation of quantum mechanics in which every possible outcome of a measurement actually occurs, each in its own branch of a continually splitting universe. There is no collapse of the wave function: the smooth, deterministic evolution that governs a system between measurements is taken to apply always, including to the observer and the measuring device.

#Origin and status

The interpretation grew out of the 1957 doctoral work of Hugh Everett, who called it the relative-state formulation; the branching-worlds language was popularized later by Bryce DeWitt. Because the universal wave function never collapses, the theory removes the special role that measurement plays in the Copenhagen interpretation and offers one response to the measurement problem. It remains one interpretation among several and is debated, particularly over how to make sense of probability when all outcomes are realized.