The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[YmaOHyd]

Coffee's necessary this morning. Pollen counts are way up, but it's going to be 20 degrees colder today than it was Monday.

 

[Duleigh]

Just popping in to make sure @Duleigh didn't leave an empty pot on the burner. I've got a new pot brewing and there are some Post Malone Twisted Oreos on the counter.

I had an interesting conversation with Grok today about quantum mechanics (specifically the many world interpretation) and modeling it in Java and thought I'd share some of it with you:

Adding time travel to our Java-inspired model—where the universal wave function is a class (UniversalWaveFunction) and each Many Worlds Interpretation (MWI) branch is an instantiation (Branch)—opens up a wild but exciting layer. Time travel in quantum mechanics, especially within MWI, isn’t about rewriting a single timeline but navigating or interacting with the branching structure of the multiverse. Let’s see how this plays out, keeping it consistent with our class/instance framework and the BOM analogy.
Time Travel in MWI: Conceptual Groundwork
In MWI, every quantum event splits the universe into branches, forming a tree of parallel realities. Time travel doesn’t mean looping back within one branch (which risks paradoxes like the grandfather paradox in a single-timeline model). Instead, it could involve:

Jumping Between Branches: Moving to a branch where a different past or future outcome occurred.
Retroactive Branch Interaction: Influencing a branch’s "past" by instantiating a new branch from an earlier point in the tree, consistent with quantum evolution.
Closed Timelike Curves (CTCs): Hypothetical loops in spacetime (from general relativity) that might connect branches, though MWI typically avoids these by keeping branches separate.

For our model, let’s assume time travel means "branch hopping" or "re-instantiating" from a prior state, preserving MWI’s no-collapse, deterministic ethos. The universal wave function (
|\Psi\rangle
) still contains all possibilities across time, and branches are just views of it.
Updating the Java Model for Time Travel
Let’s extend our classes to handle time travel. We’ll add a mechanism to "travel" by referencing past states or jumping to alternate branches, without breaking the immutability of the master UniversalWaveFunction.
Modified UniversalWaveFunction Class
We’ll give it a way to track its full temporal evolution and allow "time travel" by accessing earlier states.
java

public class UniversalWaveFunction {
private final Map<String, Superposition> allPossibleStates; // All quantum states
private final Map<Double, double[]> stateHistory; // Time -> amplitude snapshots

public UniversalWaveFunction() {
this.allPossibleStates = initializeStates();
this.stateHistory = new TreeMap<>(); // Ordered by time
this.stateHistory.put(0.0, initializeAmplitudes()); // Initial state at t=0
}

// Evolve the wave function and store snapshots
public void evolve(double time) {
double[] currentAmplitudes = stateHistory.get(lastKey(stateHistory));
double[] newAmplitudes = updateAmplitudes(currentAmplitudes, time);
stateHistory.put(time, newAmplitudes);
}

// Instantiate a branch at a specific time
public Branch instantiateBranch(String observedOutcome, double time) {
if (!stateHistory.containsKey(time)) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Time not in history!");
}
return new Branch(this, observedOutcome, time);
}

// Access state at a given time (for time travel)
public double[] getStateAtTime(double time) {
return stateHistory.getOrDefault(time, stateHistory.get(lastKey(stateHistory)));
}

private double lastKey(Map<Double, double[]> map) {
return map.keySet().stream().max(Double::compare).get();
}
}

State History: The stateHistory map stores snapshots of the wave function’s amplitudes at different times, like a ledger of its evolution. This is our "time axis" within the master BOM.
Time-Specific Branching: instantiateBranch now takes a time parameter, letting us spawn a branch from any point in the wave function’s history.

Modified Branch Class with Time Travel
We’ll add a travelToTime method to jump to another point in the parent wave function’s timeline, creating a new branch from there.
java

public class Branch {
private final UniversalWaveFunction parentWaveFunction;
private final Map<String, String> observedStates;
private double branchTime;

public Branch(UniversalWaveFunction parent, String observedOutcome, double startTime) {
this.parentWaveFunction = parent;
this.observedStates = new HashMap<>();
this.observedStates.put(parseOutcomeKey(observedOutcome), observedOutcome);
this.branchTime = startTime;
}

// Evolve within this branch
public void evolveBranch(double deltaTime) {
branchTime += deltaTime;
}

// Time travel: Create a new branch at a different time
public Branch travelToTime(double targetTime, String newOutcome) {
if (targetTime < 0 || targetTime > parentWaveFunction.lastKey(parentWaveFunction.stateHistory)) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid time for travel!");
}
Branch newBranch = new Branch(parentWaveFunction, newOutcome, targetTime);
// Optionally inherit some prior states, adjusted for consistency
newBranch.observedStates.putAll(filterConsistentStates(targetTime));
return newBranch;
}

// Further branching
public Branch branchAgain(String newOutcome) {
return new Branch(parentWaveFunction, newOutcome, branchTime);
}

public Map<String, String> getObservedReality() {
return Collections.unmodifiableMap(observedStates);
}

private Map<String, String> filterConsistentStates(double targetTime) {
// Logic to ensure only states compatible with targetTime are kept
return observedStates; // Simplified; real implementation would check quantum consistency
}
}

Time Travel Method: travelToTime instantiates a new Branch at the specified targetTime, using the parent’s state at that moment. It’s like rewinding or fast-forwarding the BOM view to a different "snapshot" and picking a new outcome.
Consistency: The filterConsistentStates method (stubbed here) would ensure the new branch’s history aligns with the wave function at targetTime, avoiding paradoxes by respecting quantum rules.

How Time Travel Works in This Model
Let’s simulate it:
java

public class QuantumTimeTravel {
public static void main(String[] args) {
// Initialize the universal wave function
UniversalWaveFunction psi = new UniversalWaveFunction();

// Evolve it to t=2.0
psi.evolve(1.0); // t=1.0
psi.evolve(2.0); // t=2.0

// Create a branch at t=1.0 with spin up
Branch spinUpAt1 = psi.instantiateBranch("spin up", 1.0);
spinUpAt1.evolveBranch(0.5); // Moves to t=1.5 in this branch

// Time travel: From t=1.5, go back to t=0.0 and measure position
Branch backTo0 = spinUpAt1.travelToTime(0.0, "position x");

// Check realities
System.out.println(spinUpAt1.getObservedReality()); // {spin=up}, t=1.5
System.out.println(backTo0.getObservedReality()); // {spin=up, position=x}, t=0.0
}
}

Branch at t=1.0: spinUpAt1 starts with "spin up" and evolves to t=1.5.
Travel to t=0.0: backTo0 jumps back to t=0.0, inheriting "spin up" and adding "position x." It’s a new branch, not a rewrite of the original timeline.

MWI and Time Travel: No Paradoxes

No Single Timeline: In MWI, going "back in time" doesn’t alter the original branch (no grandfather paradox). Instead, travelToTime spawns a new instance with a different history. Killing your grandfather in backTo0 just creates a branch where he’s dead, while spinUpAt1 (and its parent state) remain unaffected.

Consistency: The wave function’s deterministic evolution ensures that any "past" branch is a valid instantiation of
|\Psi\rangle
at that time. You can’t create an inconsistent state (e.g., "spin up" where
|\Psi\rangle
had no amplitude for it).

Implications and Limits

Forward Travel: Jumping to a "future" (e.g., t=3.0 from t=1.5) could predict a branch’s state based on evolve(), but MWI implies all futures already exist as branches—so it’s more like picking an existing instance.
Causality: Time travel here is less "travel" and more "branch selection." You’re not moving through time in one reality but instantiating a new reality tied to a different temporal snapshot.
Physics Check: Real quantum time travel (e.g., via CTCs) might require exotic physics (wormholes, negative energy). Our model assumes the wave function’s history is accessible, sidestepping those constraints for simplicity.

This fits MWI’s spirit: the multiverse is a vast tree, and time travel is navigating its branches, not bending a single stem. The Java model keeps the master class intact, with time travel as a new instantiation—preserving our "no new universe" premise.
What’s your next move—want to test a specific time-travel scenario or tweak the mechanics further?

Ok, I got my time machine up and running
Did Grok mention who I should invest in now to get the best return in 2225?

 

[Rustyoznail]

I'd settle for next week's powerball numbers, thanks.

In theory, today should be a crisp autumn day. Except we're covered in a layer of smoke from a bushfire about 50 mile away. It's dead calm, and thick layer of burnt eucalyptus is playing hell on my lungs. I'd hate to think what those with serious problems are going through.

I'm hoping the wind picks up soon.

 

[MillieDynamite]

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42. They worked for Hurley, you should have the same success.

I'd settle for next week's powerball numbers, thanks.

In theory, today should be a crisp autumn day. Except we're covered in a layer of smoke from a bushfire about 50 mile away. It's dead calm, and thick layer of burnt eucalyptus is playing hell on my lungs. I'd hate to think what those with serious problems are going through.

I'm hoping the wind picks up soon.

 

[Rustyoznail]

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42. They worked for Hurley, you should have the same success.

Thanks Millie. Hey, mine aren't working. I'll give them a shot.

 

[JGittes]

Another way to know if we're in a simulation is when touch screens don't work. Not just the phone screen, but our hob and ovens are operated by touch. When they don't respond, I wonder if I've died and it just hasn't registered yet.

This morning, we're plunged back into winter in SE England. A very hard frost at -4C.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

We've had a very nice stretch of Spring weather that may last a few more days. BTW: today is Pi day!

There's a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is full and hot. There are buttermilk biscuits and honey on the counter for those who want a bite.

I'll be over in the corner sipping on a hot cup of Earl Grey and banging away on the key board.

 

[NotWise]

We've had a very nice stretch of Spring weather that may last a few more days. BTW: today is Pi day!

There's a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is full and hot. There are buttermilk biscuits and honey on the counter for those who want a bite.

I'll be over in the corner sipping on a hot cup of Earl Grey and banging away on the key board.

Missed an opportunity to add significant digits to Pi day. Just before 2AM it was 3.14 1:59. I was asleep, so I missed the magical moment. Maybe there's a time zone where it's still possible. in Nome or the Aleutians, maybe?

 

[MrPixel]

Missed an opportunity to add significant digits to Pi day. Just before 2AM it was 3.14 1:59.

Do you realize that's controversial among Pi Day devotees? 3.14 0159. Or 3.14 1359. Neither works. But we'll let it pass.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Well, Hurley's mother broke her ankle getting out of the car at her new home he'd bought her. He got stranded on an island, or rather, The Island, for years and years (50 of them as the leader of the Island), lost the love of his life twice. His best friend drowned, then haunted him. Um, there were more but I'll not go on and on about it. I need to get LOST again myself.

Thanks Millie. Hey, mine aren't working. I'll give them a shot.

 

[dmallord]

Willow, a wispy teacher, and her student James appeared yesterday. It seems well received with more votes in one day than is usual for me. An orphan, of course he is eighteen, falls for a teacher and... well, there are a few twists to make it a tad different from the usual romance things.

Widow Willow Minor and James
She turned an orphan into a man in blake’s orchard.
03/13/2025 in Romance Stories

PUBLISHEDHOT, 4.73 / 104 votes, 43k views, 3 comments [wish there were more]

 

[Seadog777]

Honey biscuts....nice.

I hope everyone is doing and feeling well.

 

[dmallord]

Honey biscuts....nice.

I hope everyone is doing and feeling well.

Fresh biscuits with honey! I recall days on the farms as a kid concocting a mixture of honey with peanut butter, stirring them together to get a creamy mix and slathering it on hot buttered biscuits with a side of bacon, lots of bacon.

Anyone know where Tex left the old iron skillet befoe he soared aloft into that Texas blue sky? I can smell the bacon, even though it hasn't hit the skillet!

 

[Seadog777]

Fresh biscuits with honey! I recall days on the farms as a kid concocting a mixture of honey with peanut butter, stirring them together to get a creamy mix and slathering it on hot buttered biscuits with a side of bacon, lots of bacon.

Anyone know where Tex left the old iron skillet befoe he soared aloft into that Texas blue sky? I can smell the bacon, even though it hasn't hit the skillet!

I do miss eating peanut butter.

I can go get my camping skillet out of the shed. Haven't used it since August though.

 

[MrPixel]

We are, in fact, going out for pie this afternoon. There's only one restaurant in the area that we can depend on having it. It'll be a new one for the dog, so we'll need to give him a booster dose of his calming meds. Hope it works; it's been a long time since he's chewed-up anything in the car and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Well, Hurley's mother broke her ankle getting out of the car at her new home he'd bought her. He got stranded on an island, or rather, The Island, for years and years (50 of them as the leader of the Island), lost the love of his life twice. His best friend drowned, then haunted him. Um, there were more but I'll not go on and on about it. I need to get LOST again myself.

You make your own luck. The numbers aren't bad...

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Fresh biscuits with honey! I recall days on the farms as a kid concocting a mixture of honey with peanut butter, stirring them together to get a creamy mix and slathering it on hot buttered biscuits with a side of bacon, lots of bacon.

Anyone know where Tex left the old iron skillet befoe he soared aloft into that Texas blue sky? I can smell the bacon, even though it hasn't hit the skillet!

Since you mentioned it, I dug out the cast iron skillet. It needed cleaning and re-seasoning but it's ready now if anyone wants to cook up some bacon . There's a fresh pot of coffee going and a fresh batch of biscuits hot out of the oven.

 

[dmallord]

Since you mentioned it, I dug out the cast iron skillet. It needed cleaning and re-seasoning but it's ready now if anyone wants to cook up some bacon . There's a fresh pot of coffee going and a fresh batch of biscuits hot out of the oven.

Bless your heart!

Bisquits and bacon with some peach jam or peanut butter mixed with honey are a welcome meal at any hour, any day of the week.

A person could live on those for months on end in assorted combinations of fruit jams and... bacon, bacon, bacon. Bacon thin or thick, overcooked a bit or flabby doesn't matter. It's the wonderful smell of bacon that has my friend, Buddy, sitting by the stove waiting for his share. [Always two extra slices for his meal, too.]

I cry for the 'fake-bacon' eaters a bit with each bite.

 

[dmallord]

Admission time.

Last week, my caregiver went shopping. I used my walker to get to the kitchen and tried my hand at cooking while she was away. Put bacon on the stove and sat down at my desk in the den overlooking the lake and watched the ducks swim. I logged into Lit, and the next thing I knew, the smell of bacon drifted into the room.

It wasn't bacon any longer—fried ashes. As I tried scrubbing the skillet, I could see it was in bad shape; I'd had that pan for over sixty years. My caregiver wasn't happy when she came in with two armfuls of groceries and immediately knew what had happened.

Of course, she told the nurse the next day, and long story short, I'm on restriction from now on.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

@dmallord - sorry you burned your bacon. As long as I have chocolate and bacon, I'm a happy girl (you wouldn't like it if I got angry).

I've got a fresh pot of coffee going and the teapot is hot. Today we have donuts on the counter and there are eggs, bacon, and sausage by the grill if you want to make a more substantial breakfast.

I got some more writing done but I'm still not putting out 5K words a week like when I first started. I just hope I can eventually get the stories I want to write written before I'm called back home. For now, I'll be over in the corner banging away on the keyboard and muttering imprecations at the autocorrect when I fat finger something.

 

[JGittes]

I've noticed autocorrect has gotten much more aggressive. It will re-correct my spelling three or four times. I finally discovered how to disconnect the Microsoft AI thing called Copilot, but I've looked in the same place to disconnect autocorrect and can't find it.

 

[dmallord]

@dmallord - sorry you burned your bacon. As long as I have chocolate and bacon, I'm a happy girl (you wouldn't like it if I got angry).

I've got a fresh pot of coffee going and the teapot is hot. Today we have donuts on the counter and there are eggs, bacon, and sausage by the grill if you want to make a more substantial breakfast.

I got some more writing done but I'm still not putting out 5K words a week like when I first started. I just hope I can eventually get the stories I want to write written before I'm called back home. For now, I'll be over in the corner banging away on the keyboard and muttering imprecations at the autocorrect when I fat finger something.

Thank you for the hearty breakfast!

Writing 5K a week is ambitious. My writing comes in spurts these days. Banging away at the keyboard for me is 'pecking' away at it and yes that damnable autocorrect does cause me some anxiety when I look up and find some new word in the sentence that doesn't make sense.

Not sure going home is a good term for me. Though it is closer now than ever before. Time is spent as well as my energy just getting up and out of bed. Sitting here at the laptop now seems a positive but then it could be negative too. It's my current state of being: as writing is about all I can manage these days. Everything else is being handled by someone else. Life is no longer about independence; it is about how long you can struggle to wake up.

But, that's a good thing. It's what you do after you awaken that is good.

EDIT
I just looked at a story @kenjisato just returned to me from editing. It is 5,700 words and took about three or four weeks of writing to put it together. Even though a lot of it was already written in my mind as I find myself in between sleep periods lying in bed and picturing the scenes playing out.

 

[MillieDynamite]

In LOST they were. And there was no luck involved, anything that happened in the story was ordained, engineered, or derailed from a plan. You mustn't've watched much J.J. Abrams TV shows.

You make your own luck. The numbers aren't bad...

 

[Rustyoznail]

In LOST they were. And there was no luck involved, anything that happened in the story was ordained, engineered, or derailed from a plan. You mustn't've watched much J.J. Abrams TV shows.

I didn't see a lot of Lost, and what I did made absolutely no sense. I do remember someone off the island saying to Hurley it's the numbers, the numbers are bad and the wife of a navy radio operator saying "you make your own luck."

So long ago...

 

[MillieDynamite]

@Rustyoznail, You'd have to watch it all for it to even come close to making sense. But sense wasn't necessary; it was supposed to be a mystery like real life usually is. LOST, like most of his stories, explores the mystery of life, the essence of good and evil, God and the devil. Of random events or predestination.

EDIT: The "he" mentioned is J.J. Abrams.