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M Tegmark

Publications and source records attributed to M Tegmark.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

New microwave background constraints on the cosmic matter budget: trouble for nucleosynthesis?

We compute the joint constraints on ten cosmological parameters from the latest cosmic microwave background measurements. The lack of a significant second acoustic peak in the new BOOMERANG and MAXIMA data favors models with more baryons than big bang nucleosynthesis predicts, almost independently of what prior information is included. The simplest flat inflation models with purely scalar scale-invariant fluctuations prefer a baryon density 0. 022<h(2)Omega(b)<0.040 and a total nonbaryonic ( hot+cold) dark matter density 0.14<h(2)Omega(dm)<0.32 at 95% confidence and allow reionization no earlier than z approximately 30.

Journal Article↗

Importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes.

Based on a calculation of neural decoherence rates, we argue that the degrees of freedom of the human brain that relate to cognitive processes should be thought of as a classical rather than quantum system, i.e., that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the current classical approach to neural network simulations. We find that the decoherence time scales ( approximately 10(-13)-10(-20) s) are typically much shorter than the relevant dynamical time scales ( approximately 10(-3)-10(-1) s), both for regular neuron firing and for kinklike polarization excitations in microtubules. This conclusion disagrees with suggestions by Penrose and others that the brain acts as a quantum computer, and that quantum coherence is related to consciousness in a fundamental way.

Biometry↗

Cross-Correlation of Tenerife Data with Galactic Templates-Evidence for Spinning Dust?

The recent discovery of dust-correlated diffuse microwave emission has prompted two rival explanations: free-free emission and spinning dust grains. We present new detections of this component at 10 and 15 GHz by the switched-beam Tenerife experiment. The data show a turnover in the spectrum and thereby support the spinning dust hypothesis. We also present a significant detection of synchrotron radiation at 10 GHz, which is useful for normalizing foreground contamination of cosmic microwave background experiments at high galactic latitudes.

Journal Article↗