How Everett Solved the Probability Problem in Everettian Quantum Mechanics

Abstract

A longstanding issue in the Everettian (Many-Worlds) interpretation is to justify and make sense of the Born rule that underlies the statistical predictions of standard quantum mechanics. The paper offers a reappraisal of Everett’s original account in light of the recent literature on the concept of typicality. It argues that Everett’s derivation of the Born rule is sound and, in a certain sense, even an optimal result, and defends it against the charge of circularity. The conclusion is that Everett’s typicality argument can successfully ground post-factum explanations of Born statistics, while questions remain about the predictive power of the Many-Worlds interpretation.

Keywords

• Foundations of Quantum Mechanics
• Many-Worlds interpretation
• Everettian quantum mechanics
• Born rule
• probability
• <i>typicality</i>