Universal wavefunction
The universal wavefunction is a term introduced by Hugh Everett in his PhD thesis The Theory of the Universal Wave Function, and forms a core concept in the relative state interpretation or many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. It has also received more recent investigation from James Hartle and Stephen Hawking in which they derive a specific solution to the Wheeler–deWitt equation to explain the initial conditions of the Big Bang cosmology.
Everett's thesis introduction reads:
The universal wave function is the wavefunction or quantum state of the totality of existence, regarded as the "basic physical entity" or "the fundamental entity, obeying at all times a deterministic wave equation."Everett's Response to Streater
writes:
Hugh Everett's response:
